The Son of a Sailor
by lildrummerboi
Summary: It wasn't the pit. Nothing could be the pit. Nothing could be that dark void of pain, suffering, and unending hellish nightmares that thrived off of the torment of others. It was a damn close second though.
1. The Son of a Sailor

It wasn't the pit. Nothing could be the pit. Nothing could be that dark void of pain, suffering, and unending hellish nightmares that thrived off of the torment of others. It was a damn close second though. Six feet by six feet of pure steel. These bastards-even after all this time he still wasn't certain who his captors were-knew enough about his abilities to ensure that he was far enough from any earth or water to ensure he couldn't fight his way out. The tiny living accommodations were not why his extended stay casa la douchebag sucked however. They had been…doing things to him. Poking him and prodding him. Taking samples of his blood, pumping his body full of water to the point where he thought he would overdose on his own element. They had attached high-voltage electrodes to his skin and tested his resistance to electrical shock.

They had tried what he thought was brain washing. He couldn't be sure but the way they had strapped him to a chair and force fed him video montages of mankind's shittiest moments had not been a fun six days. And speaking of time, how long had even been here? At first, he had attempted to count the days, he lost track somewhere around seven months. And that had been a long time ago. That had been before…them. Before the twins. For a long time, it had simply been him alone, trapped in his little hole from hell, his only form of human contact being when the stooges came in to grab him for whatever sick bullshit, they had planned next.

And then the twins had arrived. At first, he hadn't known what to think. He had seen the pair marched past his holding cell. He had heard the screams of terror and agony, but he did not see what was happening. Did not know. Then, they started putting them in a room with him. They never talked, neither of them. Just averted their gaze and did as they were told. He assumed that since his captors had failed to break him or mold him or complete whatever they wanted with him, they would use him as a testing dummy for the twins and their powers. The boy, the one who ran fast, tested out the strength of a punch when running at the speed of sound. Tested whether or not he could literally control his body and the wind currents around him to pull the breath from his lungs.

Then there was the girl. He couldn't even begin to understand the scope of her powers, but what he did know was that they revolved heavily around mind and matter manipulation. She used him as a target for her telekinetic blasts, and her control over heavy states of matter. She would hurl boxes, metal beams, anything and everything his captors could get their hands on, and try and hit him as he attempted to dodge the blows. But that paled in comparison to her gifts of mental manipulation. She had discovered them on accident, in a training exercise she got frustrated that she couldn't hit him, and forced him to relieve his worst memories. She forced him back to the pit. He had been comatose for three days following that particular adventure. After that, he became her practice dummy. She would attempt to manipulate and shape his mind and thoughts, bend him to her will and subject him to abject horrors.

Joke was on her though. After a while, he found a way to block her out. It had been surprisingly easy. Like those days long ago when some of his fellow campers tried to use their mother's talent to manipulate him. It was merely a matter of will, and if there was one thing that he possessed more of than anything else. It was willpower.

Now someone might ask him, "Why not try and escape?" and the answer was simple. Of course he tried. He had tried several times now. Each and every attempt had been met with utter and abject failure. After his eighth attempt, and subsequently his eighth beating, he had decided for a better approach. He was biding his time. He was waiting for his opportunity. At some point, these guys would slip up, they would make a mistake. It would only take one sloppy guard, one guy who maybe didn't enough sleep the night before, or who was running behind and was rushing their checks. That is all that it would take, and he would take advantage of the gift given, and he would make his ninth and hopefully final attempt to escape. The stars would need to align, but hey, he had always been a glass half full kind of guy. It was how he was able to keep his sanity and sense of humor during all of this. He just needed-

"BOOWEEP BOOWEEP BOOWEEP"

Percy was pulled out of his thoughts when a painfully loud klaxon blared over the loud speakers.

"Attention, Avengers Quinjet has entered Sokovian airspace. Repeat, Avengers Quinjet has entered Sokovian airspace. All hands to general quarters."

'Well that is certainly interesting' Percy thought to himself as he pulled himself off the small bed in his cramped cell, 'And more than a little convenient'. Walking over to the clear cel door, he watched as groups of armed guards began running about, in seemingly random directions. He knew better than to ask what was going on, no one was going to answer him. Which was far from helpful. What the hell was an Avengers Quinjet? Was it some kind of new aircraft? Was he about to be in the middle of some kind of active war-zone? And more to the point, where in the hell was Sokovia? He had never heard of such a place before. Was it a country? It had to be, in all the movies and tv he had watched, the only said someplace had an airspace if it belonged to some foreign government.

He shook the thoughts from his head of the thoughts. This was the chance Percy had been waiting for. He began reaching out, trying to feel for any source of water, even running pipes under the facility, but like all the other times he attempted, he felt nothing. He tried to focus harder, tried to find something, anything at all that could potentially help him, but he was violently thrown to the ground and his concentration was broken. All at once, all of the lights in the facility went out. Red emergency lighting sprang to life out in the hallway, illuminating the walls of Percy's cell in an eerie crimson glow. He was about to pul himself off the ground when another explosion rocked the building. The force of the explosion threw Percy across the cell, and his back collided hard with the see-through door. Shaking the stars out of his vision he wobbly rose to his feet and his heart stopped for a moment. There, on the other side of his cell, he could see a small glimmer of sunlight. It wasn't much, almost unnoticeable, but for a man who had spent an ungodly amount of time locked up without seeing the sunlight, he recognized what he was looking at in an instant.

He reached an arm out and focused again, at once, his body recognized something it had gone so long without. The familiar pull of water. It was in the atmosphere, in the ground, in the…was that snow? A feral grin found its way onto his face. Focusing again, Percy found his connection with the earth itself, he pulled, like he was mentally yanking on a crank, and willed the earth itself to move. The ground under Percy began to shake. The shaking increased in violence and the very foundation of the building itself began to move and quiver. The lights in the ceiling began to quiver and wave. Percy focused his attention on the small hole, willing the earth underneath him to tear apart the building at the foundations underneath the broken wall. Closing his outstretched hand into a fist, he jerked his arm upward while willing the earth to rise under the foundation.

In a violent eruption of earth and snow, the wall crumbled in Percy's cell, and for the first time in longer than Percy could remember he felt the sun's rays on his skin. He actually had to shield his eyes at first, the bright glow of his cousins' rlight reflecting off of the fresh powder on the ground was blinding. In spite of the stinging in his eyes, and the slight headache forming after the overstimulation of using his powers for the first time in ages, Percy found himself smiling. It was a real, joyous, happy smile, and soon he was laughing. A true, boisterous laugh that echoed around him. He calmed himself down, in spite of everything he had just accomplished, he knew that he much more he had to do. Part of him, in fact a very loud and intelligent part of him, was telling Percy to cut and run. To run as fast and hard as his legs could carry him, and to put as much distance between himself and his captors as humanly possible. Unfortunately, that very sensible and rationale part of Percy's brain was being overshadowed by a very loud voice, that sounded a lot like his former friend Clarisse, telling him to put a serious hurting on the sorry sons of bitches who thought that they could do what they did to Percy and get away with it.

In the end. Clarisse won out.

Jumping out of the facility, Percy landed in full out sprint. It wasn't hard to find the main facility. It was a literal castle on the side of a mountain, "Must have been in a separate building" Percy mused aloud to himself. He only made it a few hundred yards before an earth-shattering roar emanated from the tree line to his left. Stopping to look, a large green blur launched itself above the trees before disappearing again below the tree tops. There was a loud THUD as snow, debris, and soldiers were launched into the air.

"Imma stay the hell away from that one," Percy muttered before taking off once again, He reached the next set of trees in front of him but had to duck behind a large trunk as a series of bright blue energy whizzed in his direction. He could feel the heat from the shots sizzle next to him as he pressed himself against the bark. Looking down, he saw that the blue shots had left literal scorch marks in the earth. "What the hell was that?" he asked, not expecting a reply. Peaking around the tree, he saw a group of white dressed soldiers charging his way, with what appeared to be rifles raised at the ready.

Diving out from his cover, Percy raised both his hands into the air with his palms facing skyward. Extending his will outward, the snow under the soldier's feet turned into ice and the men began sliding. As a group, the soldiers tumbled to the ground, falling over top of one another. Rotating his right arm in a circular pattern, Percy closed his palm into a fist, and slammed his hand into the ground. The snow around the soldiers condensed into a large mallet like object, and collided heavily into the fallen soldiers. The sound of bones breaking and screams of terror and pain told Percy he had successfully incapacitated the soldiers.

The sound of artillery being fire drew Percy's attention away from the downed soldiers, with a vicious smile on his face, Percy took off toward his next target.

BREAK

Sliding to her knees, Natasha pulled up next to Clint. With one hand she fished through her supplies for a tourniquet and med-pack, and with the other she signaled in her ear piece. "Clint's hit!" she said sharply, ducking under another series of shots from the bunker to her flank. "Does somebody want to deal with that bunker?" She asked as she began prepping the tourniquet. Instead of an answer over the comms, there was a bestial roar as Hulk landed with a crash several yards away. Ducking its head, the monster charged through the oncoming fire before barreling through the bunker, destroying it and scattering the soldiers manning the station. "Thank you." she said, as she turned to continue patching up her friend.

"Duck!" shouted a voice Natasha didn't recognize from somewhere in front of her. Her body acted on instinct, dropping low and shielding Clint's wonder form with her own. Clint gasped and moaned in pain at the sudden weight but stayed still. Turning her head, Natasha watched as a figure vaulted over her and Clint. At the apex of the jump, the man cocked his arm back as though he were about to throw a punch.

Now Natasha Romanov had seen a lot in her time. Aliens, hundred-year-old super soldiers, men who claimed to be gods, and everything under the sun. But what she saw next, baffled her. A flow of water materialized in front of the jumping man, striating at his elbow and ending in a sharp point about a foot in front of his fist. As the man landed in a crouch, he extended his arm outward and the water launched from his arm. As it left the man's arm, the water separated into three razor sharp javelins. Each water javelin struck the chest of a soldier bringing their arms to bare on Natasha and Clint. Turning back around, the man ran over to her and Clint. In an instant, one of her pistols was in her hand, aiming squarely at the chest of the stranger, while her other hand began working at Clint's wound.

Natasha didn't waiver as she took in the appearance of the stranger. He was tall, taller than Steven even, she marked him at somewhere around six foot four. Powerfully built, he was powerfully built, with wide shoulders and a broad chest. He was young though, maybe twenty-two at the most. But most of the baby fat was gone from his high cheeks and chiseled jawline. His eyes were a deep, sea-green, and seemed to be glowing iridescently in the darkness of the forest. Those deep green eyes were currently wide in shock, and the man quickly raised his hands.

"English?" He asked, his accent American. Somewhere in New York if Natasha had to guess. Either he was bluffing, trying to throw her off, or this guy was very, very lost.

She nodded. "Who are you?" She asked

"Percy," he replied, his eyes darting down to Clint and back to her. Natasha's grip on her pistol tightened slightly. "I can help your buddy down there. I can heal him." Natasha didn't answer, but her hand did leave Clint's wind momentarily as she tried to subtly draw the sidearm Clint tucked away in his waistband. One gun was good, two was better, especially after what she seen this man do. The man grimaced, then looked down at Clint again, "listen if I had wanted to hurt you, I would have let those guys shoot you alright? I'm on your side...erm...whoever you are-who are you again? I guess I never asked which was honestly kind of rude of me but you there was shooting and bad guys and then my cell collapsed and-"

'Cell?' Natasha thought, but filed it away for later. This was a judgment call, the wound on Clint's flank was ugly. Bad plasma burn. If they didn't act quickly the skin around his kidneys would rot and the radiation from the blast could potentially do some serious long-term damage to Clint's kidneys. Natasha scrutinized the man again. He hadn't been lying. He was much too open and upfront to have been trying to conceal anything. And he had just saved her and Clint from some further difficulties. Not that she couldn't have done something, she just couldn't be sure that she and Clint would have gotten away without further injury.

Making a decision Natasha nodded, "fix him, but try anything?" She cocked the hammer back on Clint's sidearm to illustrate how poor of a decision that would be. Percy nodded emphatically and dropped to his knees immediately. Gently he rolled Clint onto his side, earning a moan of pain from the beleaguered man, so that the wound was facing up at Percy. Biting his lip in concentration, Natasha watched as his eyes flowed brightly, and a blue aura sprang to life around his outstretched palm. Lowering his palm to Clint's wound, Natasha's grip around her pistol tightened, and then went slack as her jaw dropped open in shock. She watched in fascination as Clint's wound began to clean, fade, and stitch itself back together again. Percy looked up from what he was doing and met Natasha's astonished gaze, the glow from his hand bathing his face in a faint blue light.

Percy smiled at her, "A little trick I picked up. Handy, huh?"

Natasha raised an amused eyebrow, a smirk on her lips, "That's one way of putting it, sure." She said. Looking down, she noticed Clint was no longer grimacing in pain. But he was still breathing heavily. The glow from Percy's hand began to disappear and he stood up.

"I've done what I can to stabilize him. He should be fine for a while but I'd say he should still see like a professional or something." Natasha was only half hearing him, she was bent over the wound and inspecting it. There was still a faint blue and purple bruise where he had been shot, but the wound had been expertly closed and there was no sign of irritation. She barely even registered he was leaving until Percy was already walking past her.

Turning where she sat, she asked, "where the hell are you going?"

Turning to look at her, Percy said, I don't know how long I've been here, but it's been a while. These people, the guys whose asses we're kicking, made it their personal mission in life to hurt me, and use me in any way they saw fit." He gestured at the castle beyond him, "Smart money is that the monocle wearing douche canoe that is responsible for it all is sitting up in that there castle. Bad guys love evil castles. So, me being the forward thinking, red-blooded American man that I am, was planning on walking up to the front door, kicking it in, and seeing how creative I can be with the placement of Mr. Bad Guy's monocle."

Natasha could only stare in relative disbelief.

BREAK

Steve stepped over the fallen soldier, scanning his surroundings and extending his sense as well as he could. Looking towards a darkened corner of the hallway he saw the faint outline of two feet, and breathing, off to his left, he could smell the sweat and stink of another man who likely hadn't bathed in several days. Feigning a run to the left, he threw his shield, which collided with the smelly man to his left. The shield bounced off of the man's body and came back to him just as the man in the corner opened fire. Holding the shield to cover his advance, Steve advanced quickly, ducking under a swing of the man's rifle, Steve smacked the man in the head with his shield, the thug bounced off the wall. Before he could recover, Steve kicked him in the back and the man fell through the doorway.

Following the collapsed body through the doorway, Steve came face to face with the top of the Avengers wanted list. "Baron Strucker," he said, as he sauntered over to the Hydra leader. "Hydra's number one thug."

"Technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD," Strucker said, swiveling around as Steve circled him,

"Well then, technically you're unemployed." replied Steve. "Where's Loki's scepter?" Steve demanded,

"Don't worry," said Strucker, "I know when I am beat. You'll mention how I cooperated; I hope." Neither man noticed the glowing red eyes lurking in the darkened staircase.

"I'll put it right under human experimentation," said Steve, "Now where are the others-" he didn't get a chance to finish his statement as he was launched down another nearby staircase. A woman with long dark brown hair walked over a shared a look with Strucker, but before any words could be exchanged, a nearby window exploded inwards. Strucker was thrown to the floor, but the woman held her ground. Recognizing the figure jumping into the window, she quickly exited the corridor.

Steve recovered quickly, but not quickly enough. As he reached the top of the stairs, he saw the woman who must have hit him exiting the room, but what currently occupied his attention was the large man currently holding Strucker a foot off of the ground by his neck. "I gotta wonder, at any point during this little episode of ours, did you think for one minute that I wouldn't find some way to get to you?" Steve heard the man ask. Strucker only gurgled in response, "What was that, sorry I couldn't hear you over your choking. Want to try that one again tough guy?"

Strucker's face was beginning to go through rapid shades, if Steve didn't step in soon, whoever this guy was would kill him. "Hey, listen to me son. You don't want to do that," The man, boy really now that Steve got a look at him because despite his size the boy couldn't have been more than twenty-one, turned to look at the new voice.

The kid gave Steve a brief once over and raised a single eyebrow, "First the woman in the glowing catsuit now a walking American flag. Did I accidentally walk into a comic-con?" Ah, so this must have been the guy Nat had called in about. "As for this? Oh, this is absolutely what I want to be doing right now. This-" he shook Strucker who choked more violently and turned a darker shade of purple, "Piece of shit spent the last god knows how long torturing me. Experimenting on me. Humiliating me. I can't think of much more that I want right now, than to see if that stupid little cock-ring he wears as an eye piece can fit in some very uncomfortable places."

"Really Cap?" came Stark's voice over Steve's ear piece, "Not gonna chastise junior there for whatever the hell THAT was?" Steve ignored him and focused on the escalating problem in front of him.

"Please, listen to me," Steve pleaded, "I don't know what Strucker has done to you, I can see that he has hurt you. I understand that you want to reciprocate that even a little bit. But you do that. You kill him here and now, and you don't let us take him in to face justice, then you spit in the face of every other person he has ever hurt. Every family he has torn apart, every child kidnapped and tortured loses out on any sense of closure, just so you can experience one small, fleeting moment of vengeance. I don't know you; I don't know the type of man you are. But if you survived this long that means you are a man of conviction, that you are driven and can endure great hardship. I know it's unfair to ask, but think about the bigger picture. Is your own pride worth the potential suffering of others."

Steve could see that he was getting through to the kid. His face was contorting as he processed Steve's words. "You don't understand." the kid ground out, "He took me from everything. Just when I thought I had finally turned my life around, just when I thought things were finally, FINALLY turning around he comes in and takes EVRYTHING FROM ME!" He was shouting now, and Steve could see tears forming in the corner of the kid's eyes. "My mom, my step-father, I haven't seen them in…I don't even know how long. He took me from them, he took me from my family. What about me? DON'T I DESERVE JUSTICE FOR WHAT HE DID!?"

Steve was slowly creeping closer until he was right next to the now sobbing young man. Placing a calming and reassuring hand on his shoulder, Steve said, "You do son. Of course you do. But the only real justice he can face, the only justice that is right for you and your family, and for everyone else this monster has hurt, is lock him away and forget about him. You kill him here and now and you let him win. You let him take the easy way out. He doesn't get to face the repercussions for his actions. Don't let him win. be something more." The only noise in the corridor came from the continued struggled breathing of Strucker. After a long moment, the man screamed in fury and heartache and punched Strucker in the face. The man went limp and the man let Strucker's body fall limply to the floor. Steve didn't need to check to know the Hydra leader was alive. He could the raspy breathing. The young man who had been through far too much finally turned towards Steve. He was openly crying, his eyes red and puffy, but the undercurrent of rage still danced in his vibrating green eyes.

"Sir." he said, and Steve's heart broke for him,

"I wanna go home."

**AN: Ok so I know I should be focusing on my other stories but dammit this has just been in my brain for forever. There have been a lot of stories written under these fandoms but I haven't really seen anything like this or what I've thought about for this kind of a story. If there is much love for this then I might see about making a story out of it but for right now I just needed to get the idea out of my head. Let me know what you think. **

**Love, **

**LilDB**


	2. Heartbreak

Percy Jackson. That was the kid's name. It had taken Steve several minutes of quiet contemplation during takeoff before he remembered why that name rang a bell.

It had been on the roof of that nondescript office building in D.C. Sitwell had been blabbering about Project Insight: "Zola's algorithm is a program" the man had stammered, raising a useless hand to stay off Steve and Natasha's advance, "For choosing. Insight's targets."

"What targets?" Steve had demanded,

Gasping for breath out of fear Sitwell had said, "You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense. A high school valedictorian in Iowa City. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Percy Jackson. Anyone who is a threat to HYDRA."

Steve had forgotten the names in the moments to come. Too much else to focus on, and then Bucky and reentered his world and all tertiary information had fallen to the wayside. He had forgotten about the names and persons of interest to HYDRA. Now, he was seriously wishing he had been less single-minded in regards to Buck.

Steve was drawn out of his musings by Tony.

"So are you gonna kiss him or just keep undressing him with your eyes there Point Break?" Steve almost sighed as Tony snarked from the pilot's chair. Steve wasn't even sure how the man was able to see the god from his position at the front, but he had learned not to question Tony by this point.

The god in question spluttered in indignation, however he had been staring at Percy in a decidedly creepy way since they had boarded. "That is not! That is to say that I'm not!"

"Don't worry big guy," Said Tony, "We're all here for you and support your decisions."

Thor growled, "I would not expect humans to understand. You do not know who this is, do you?"

"The kid who blew up the St. Louis Arch? The kid who was caught on SHIELD security footage running through the streets of Manhattan with a baseball bat beating up homeless" at Tony's words, every head in the ship turned to him.

"How do you know about that?" Asked Percy, his voice hoarse.

Tony just shrugged from the pilot's chair, "Had Jarvis run your name. You know you're wanted in like twelve states, right? Which, by the way is impressive, So I'm just going to address the underaged elephant in the room, why isn't he in handcuffs?" What Steve didn't know was that Tony intentionally left out that Percy had also single-handedly defended three square blocks surrounding the Empire State Building from Alien attack during the Invasion; at least as far as the recordings from the day in question were concerned.

Percy's shoulders stiffened even more than they had been. For whatever reason he hadn't wanted to get on the jet. It had only been Thor's promise that nothing would happen with him on board that Percy had grudgingly gotten on.

"Those charges were dropped," Percy said looking like he was prepped to cut and run. Steve felt his own muscles tense in response, Percy had helped Clint and had taken out Strucker. That didn't sound like the type of kid that Tony was trying to paint him as. And as far as Steve was concerned, his helping of Clint went a long way towards making Percy a friend. And from the way Natasha was glaring at the back of Tony's head, she was in agreement.

"No harm will come to Perseus." Thor rumbled from his seat, "And you Stark, are wrong."

"Oh, so I don't have a sociopath on my jet, that clears things up. Thanks bud."

"Perseus Jackson is the greatest hero Olympus has seen since the fall of Alexander." Thundered Thor, a crash of thunder and lightning outside the jet reflecting his anger.

Once again, the jet fell silent, only the steady beeping of Clint's heart monitor filling the void. Steve watched Percy visibly swallow as he glanced upward, as though he were expecting to be struck down by something at that very moment. He shared a glance with Thor, they seemed to have a silent conversation. Whatever Percy seemed to be trying to communicate with Thor must have gotten through to the man because he nodded in understanding,

"Do not worry, I will be the one to tell them." Percy seemed to sag in relief for whatever reason. "Asgard is not alone on Midgard. I know of at least three others like myself. The kingdom of Amun-Ra, the warrior empire in the west and the home of Jupiter. And finally, there is foundation of democracy, the home of Mount Olympus and the King of the skies Zeus. Perseus is a son of the Greeks. Born as the result of a union between a mortal woman, and Poseidon, the king of the seas. It was under Perseus' leadership that his grandfather, Kronos the titan of time he was defeated and sealed once again. He is the man who conquered Tartarus, and with the prophesied seven he defeated Gaia."

"I'm sorry," Tony interrupted, "But is any of that supposed to actually mean anything to us? 'Cause it sounds like a bunch of gibberish. I mean I've heard some bullshit, sorry for the coarse language Captain, but that takes the cake."

"I assure you that it is all true. Twice now, has great darkness and evil befallen Midgard, and twice has Perseus risen to the challenge. Many good goslings gave their lives so that you could continue to live Stark. Do not insult their memory or their sacrifice."

The more Thor and Stark continued to argue, the more Percy seemed to shrink into himself, which only served to illustrate to Steve that Thor was telling the truth. But Steve was only half paying attention. Internally, the man was floored; where were they during these attacks, that was their job was it not? To protect humanity from all threats. It was why he had signed onto this entire thing to begin with. There was a small part of him that whispered that it was also because war and combat was all he knew but he ignored the voice. Instead, he voiced his distress, "Why the hell are we just hearing about this now? That's the purpose for the Avengers, we're supposed to be the defenders of this planet but apparently we've been leaving that to teenagers this whole time."

"Oh for the love of," said Stark under his breath, "Rogers please, for the love of God, tell me that you don't seriously believe this?"

Steve ignored him and continued to gaze expectantly at Percy, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "You guys, uh, you weren't really a thing yet for most of this. The Titan War began when I was sixteen and Gaia rose the year after that, I'd never even heard of any of you really before today." Steve's heart fell more. This man, because he could not refer to Percy as a kid after what he'd had, fought through two wars before he was old enough to even join the military. He felt his hands clench into fists, as righteous anger flooded through his system. They should have been there, should have done something. But he had been on ice the entire time, there was nothing he could have done. But it didn't matter, he still should have been there. Should have been able to help in some way. Not stuck in some iceberg.

Helpless.

"Never heard of us? How the hell have you never heard of us?" was Starks indignant reply.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure I remember my girlfriend talking about you at some point, I don't know she said that you were some kind of gun salesman or something? I don't know, she didn't like you very much. Said you were a war-um, war…ugh what was it Annabeth said, War-privateer? Is that right?"

"War-profiteer," was Natasha's gentle reply. Percy gave her a bright, thankful smile.

"Yeah that's it." he said happily, and Tony visibly sank deeper into his seat. The billionaire was rather…touchy about his arms-dealing past. Then Percy turned and looked at Steve, "And I remember reading about you in history class…and I have a cousin with your poster in his bedroom. At least he did…um quick question by the way….what, uh, what year is it?"

"2015" Said Steve softly, and felt his chest constrict even more at the look of horror on the man's face. He stood up and walked away from his seat.

"Three years…" Steve heard him mutter to himself. Percy ran a hand through his hair before sinking to the floor against the nearest bulkhead. Without a word Steve watched as Natasha rose from her seat and walked steadily over to Percy. Sinking down next to him, she just sat there, a comforting presence in a time of need. "It's been three years…What is mom going to…what about Wise Girl…Three years…" Percy was just muttering to himself, his knees curled up to his chest.

Thor was just looking pensively from his own seat, having not said anything since his revelation, looking at the man, Steve asked, "How do you know so much about him?" asked Steve in a lowered voice, taking another look Steve saw that Natasha was saying something to Percy. He couldn't hear what she was saying but he thought it might have been working.

Thor's voice drew his attention away from the pair, "Tales of Percy's exploits have reached even Asgard. They are famous, as is he. He is a favorite around the banquet hall. He is an honorable, trustworthy man. We must help him reunite with his family. It is the least that we can do for him."

"Might be a small problem with that big guy," murmured Tony just loud enough for Steve and Thor to hear. The pair shared a look before standing up and approaching the pilots chair.

"What do you mean Tony?" Asked Steve crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against a support beam.

Tony glanced over at him, a frown on his face, "When Jarvis was running his name, he picked up on his mother and step-father. They were in New York during the attacks. They didn't make it out…" Tony's voice was hard, and thick with an emotion Steve had never heard from the man.

"Thought you didn't believe him?" Steve asked, incredulous,

"I had Jarvis fact-check the story against all of our downloaded SHIELD intel, the story checks out. Apparently Fury knew all about this and didn't think to invite any of us to the party." Said Stark, sounding uncharacteristically bitter.

Steve ducked his head and sighed, running a hand through his dirty hair. He shot a look over to Percy and Natasha, whatever Natasha had been saying to him had been working somewhat. He had some color back in his cheeks and he wasn't so hunched over and defeated looking.

Turning his attention back to Tony, heard Thor say quietly, "Jarvis, run a search for Annabeth Chase, please." There was a moment of silence as the AI ran the request. A ping on Steve's phone signaled the end of the search. Once again Steve was impressed by just how brilliant the computer program really was. It knew well enough to send a private message to Steve, rather than relay the information through the jet's speaker system.

"Who the hell is Annabeth Chase?" Steve heard Tony ask,

Pulling out his phone, Steve scrolled through the information. He immediately felt like throwing the damn device out a window. There were two years of online activity by Annabeth Chase, Steve knew it was the right woman because the first image that came up was of her and a much younger Percy at a summer camp from the looks of it. What followed was nowhere near as wholesome, for a year there were posts on various social media accounts calling for any and all possible information the whereabouts of her missing boyfriend. But as the years passed, the posts and pictures and cries for help slowed, until they were further and further apart and eventually there were none left. Then, about seven months ago there were no posts, between Annabeth and another man. He was nice enough from the pictures that Steve was looking at, but it didn't change the hurt he was feeling on the behalf of the young man.

It was a curious thing, to be feeling so many heavy and heartfelt emotions for a man he had only met hours before. But there was just something about Percy Jackson that drew you to him, made you like the guy. Steve couldn't help it, he wanted good things for the man. That could be in large part because he had spent the last three years in captivity being tortured and experimented on, on a regular basis. But he also just genuinely liked him, Percy reminded him far too much of a young Bucky. Which hurt for a whole other set of reasons. And Steve refused to let anything else happen to Percy. He had been hurt enough, and the next couple of days were likely to be extremely painful. Steeling his nerves and raising his chin, Steve made to go over and have the difficult talk with Percy. But a hand on his arm stopped Steve in his tracks. Thor looked down on him, a grim expression on his face, clearly he had seen the results as well, and knew what Steve was about to go do.

"Not now." Thor said, "And not here."

"He needs to know" Steve insisted,

"I agree with you my friend," Thor said, "But if we tell him now, he will be liable to kill both him and ourselves. Sons of Poseidon are notoriously volatile, their emotions can cause serious harm. More importantly, I do not believe that it is our burden to bear. He will be home soon. With his mother. Allow her to be the one to break the news. She will be better able to help him than we will."

Steve wanted to argue, wanted to point out that the longer they waited the more painful this was going to be, and if Thor was correct, more potentially dangerous. But he also knew that Thor had a point. Steve wasn't as up to date with his mythology as perhaps he ought to be, but he remembered something about Poseidon being able to summon earthquakes and storms at a whim. It was likely in the planets best interest that someone who knew Percy much more personally and intimately be the one to help him.

Steve nodded at the man, "Alright, I agree with you."

"Great, now that the two of you have finally caught up, we're here." said Tony, as he cycled the jet into its landing routines. The propulsion reversed and Steven felt the familiar light jerk that signaled the jet was in its landing sequence. Turning from where he stood, Steve saw that Natasha had recognized the sensation as well, the look she was giving him saying everything.

'Why are we landing?'

Steve just shook his head and took a calming breath. Looking at Clint's sleeping form, and Bruce-still shaking under his blanket-he only hoped that whatever happened next, Percy didn't do something they would all regret.

As one; Steve, Thor, and Tony rose and approached the shaken demigod.

BREAK

Natasha angled the jet leeward as she dodged another bolt of lightning. She did her best to keep things steady. While Clint was stable and healing, she was not exactly willing to risk further harm by flinging him into the hull. The battle below was getting more violent. She had not been privy to whatever conversation had led to the fight, she had only shared a brief whispered conversation with Steve as he, Stark and Thor had led Percy down the ramp and onto the deserted plateau Stark had landed them on, but she knew that whatever was going to happen likely wouldn't be pretty.

Stark had Jarvis do some digging on the kid. According to uncovered SHIELD surveillance, Percy had been in New York during the attacks. Satellite imagery and security surveillance had caught Percy fighting off invaders and evacuating civilians during the attack. for whatever reason, there had been a very heavy alien presence around the Empire State Building, and Percy had spent the better part of the battle fighting off the hordes and keeping them from entering the high rise. During the chaos surrounding the end of the battle was when Percy had been taken, shocked unconscious by what must have been HYDRA agents. The footage had been supposedly scrubbed from the records, but because Stark had integrated Jarvis with SHIELD intelligence infrastructure, the smart AI had made backups to a separate hard-drive and in the weeks following the battle, Natasha had watched nearly all of the footage. When she had first come across the then seventeen-year old fending off invaders and rescuing civilians, she had been curious. Clearly enhanced, and even more clearly trained, the man was an unknown and therefore a potential threat.

She had proceeded to present her findings to Fury. She knew it would be an exercise in futility, when it came to Nick Fury, he knew all things, at all times. She had been expecting him to tell her that while her findings were noted, they were unnecessary and they already had the situation contained. What she had not expected was for him to order her to leave, scrub the footage, and forget everything she had seen. It was so entirely unlike the man Natasha knew, that she couldn't help but slightly obsess over it. So she did some digging. She had been…surprised, but what she had uncovered. It was not difficult to discover the man in the videos, a quick search of noted persons of interest and she had found her man. Perseus Jackson was an enigma. At a quick glance it was your typical troubled youth. In and out of schools until he was twelve. Then, a nationwide manhunt after the boy's mother and him had gone missing just outside of Montauk. There was the Arch debacle as Tony had described, and a litany of other questionable instances. Percy's file had read like a guidebook for homegrown terrorism.

At least until she had come across a single note, attached to the a small SHIELD dossier covering a twelve hour dark period in Manhattan. "Titan War in Manhattan. Half-bloods defending position. Percy Jackson on location. Do Not Approach. Ally." There was not much that could surprise Natasha after New York. But in the span of a week, a seventeen year old from New York had surprised her three times. She didn't like it. But she also trusted Nick with her life and then some. He knew something about this kid that she didn't, if he felt that he was better off left alone, then she would leave it be.

She had been successful in forgetting the young man. Spending months at a time teaming up with Captain America would do that. However, that came to a hard end when Jasper Sitwell had stammered out that he was a HYDRA person of interest. Clearly the man had not known that Jackson was already in HYDRA custody. Or he had simply been naming off anyone and anything that he thought would get their little crew off his back. It hadn't been until well after the smoke had cleared, and Steve was safely recovering that Natasha focused back on the kid. She had tried to find him, find any trace of him. But she couldn't, neither could Percy's girlfriend at the time either, if all of the social media outcries had been any indication. For all intents in purposes it looked like the kid had cut and run. Had decided that a life on the run was preferable to living in New York and trying to live a stable life. She had chalked it up to grief at losing his family and had promptly left it alone again. Fury would have told her if he thought it was necessary.

Sokovia, in HYDRA custody, was the last place on earth she had expected to see him. She hadn't even recognized the man when he had run up to try and help Clint. He had a beard now, and considerably longer hair. Add to that her own worry over the battle and Clint's safety and it wasn't inconceivable that she wouldn't recognize the man. And maybe it was the slight obsession she'd had with him that drove Natasha to act as she had. She didn't research people who weren't targets. Didn't go into their past and dig through years of information to uncover every little secret about a person. But she did with him. She couldn't help it. She was fascinated, and she would be lying if she said she hadn't seen too much of herself in him. When she was watching the footage from New York, she knew that he had been trained. For as young as he was, he would have to have been trained from a very young age. Trained to be a killer. A warrior. Just like she had. Maybe that was why she felt compelled to dig deeper. Felt compelled to look underneath it all. Sure, she could have passed it off as being diligent. But every other time Nick had told her to back off a project, she'd done as told. But not with Percy Jackson. Maybe that was why she felt the need to try and comfort him, to sit with him as he came to terms with the fact that he had been missing for three years. She hadn't had the heart or the stomach to him about his mother. He had already been so hurt, so dejected. She couldn't bring herself to do any more harm. The selfish part of her was content to let Steve do the hard part. He was more emotional. More empathetic. She had thought he would be able to handle it.

As she saw the red and gold armor of Tony Stark get launched only a few meters from the jet's nose, she determined that she had likely miscalculated.

"What-what's going on?" Came a shaky voice from behind her, turning in her seat she saw Banner had finally come out of his stupor and was huddled in his blanket behind the pilot's chair. He was still shaking slightly but had gained some color back in his sunken face.

"How much of our conversation with the new guy did you catch?" she asked, focusing on maintaining a better distance from the fighting below.

"Enough to hear that he's like Thor. What happened? I thought the kid was on our side?"

Natasha grimaced, "He is. He healed Clint. But he's a son of the Greek god Poseidon, not Asgardian. He was in New York during the battle. His family was living there at the time."

"Was?" said Banner

"They didn't make it out. Building got hit by one of the Leviathans and collapsed on top of them. Steve, Tony, and Thor took him off the jet in order to tell him."

Banner grimaced as he watched the ongoing struggle. "Jesus." he whispered lowly. Then, before Natasha could say any more. The thunder and lightning stopped, The cloud cover that had taken over during the fighting began to part. The comm station to Natasha's right crackled to life and Steve's voice filled the room.

"Nat" Steve panted, the man sounded beyond exhausted, which wasn't surprising. They had just come from a raid and then they'd had to fight a grieving half-god. "It's over. You're safe to come down."

Natasha just pinged back her confirmation and brought the jet in low for a landing sequence. As soon as the wheels touched the plateau the cargo ramp was lowering and Natasha was out of her seat, marching towards the back, loading dock. First back on the jet was Stark. Already in the processing of storing away his armor. He had a cut on his right cheek and was sporting the beginning of a very bad black eye on his left eye.

At Natasha's raised eyebrow Stark just shrugged, "New guys got a mean right hook."

"Why'd you even go down there. I thought he was a criminal?" she said, folding her arms over her chest.

Stark just shrugged, "Kid helped us out. And I saw the footage from New York. I know he's not a bad guy, just wanted to see if he'd crack under the pressure." Looking back towards the ramp, where a very battered Steve and a more ragged looking Thor were helping a limping Percy back onto the jet Stark added, "And the kid certainly cracked. Just not because of any of us." his tone was soft and sad. She hadn't ever really seen the genius look so forlorn before, not even when he was dying. Maybe because there was something he could do about the poison in his body, but not about the dead parents of a man who'd only ever done his best to be good. And maybe, like Natasha, Stark was seeing a little bit of himself in the young man. A scared kid, who was suddenly all alone in a very big world, unsure of what to do or where to go and with nothing left but names and legacies.

Natasha just pat Stark on the shoulder before she continued down to help load on Percy. She was pleased to see that he was awake, if barely. Like the others, Percy was sporting a couple of nasty looking bruises and his nose was a little crooked. Likely broken. But that wasn't the most damning of the picture. His eyes were glassy and haunted, his shoulders, slumped as they already were over Thor and Steve, were slung low in defeat. Neither Thor nor Steve were able to meet her eyes as they carried Percy into the jet. Natasha waited until they were secure inside before she hit the button to close the ramp behind her.

As she watched Steve and Thor deposit Percy onto a nearby chair, part of her wanted to comfort him. The other part wanted to put him in the ground. He was exhausted, possibly malnourished, and fatigued from battle and yet, in his grief he had managed to nearly outlast three of the physically strongest members of the team. As curious as Percy made, as much as she could sympathize with him, he was still a potential threat. A potential threat that had gone out of his way to heal Clint, to protect both of you, to stay after the smoke cleared. Said a small voice in her head. Natasha wanted to shake her head in frustration. She hadn't even known him for twelve hours and Percy Jackson was screwing with her head. Too conflicted with too many differing emotions waging war inside her chest, Natasha simply decided to bury the thoughts and feelings and focus on Clint. She figured that if it worked once it would work again, she would simply push Percy Jackson from her mind. As much as she sympathized with him, he would likely be out of their lives soon enough anyway. And the sooner he was gone, the sooner her head would be clear.

Now if only she could bring herself to actually believe her own bullshit.

BREAK


	3. The Darkest Timeline

Percy didn't even feel the rain as it pelted him from above. To be honest, he wasn't feeling much of anything at the moment. Probably for the best though, his fight with the three costumed weirdos had not been pleasant. He had thought it a sick joke, when the Captain America told him that his mom was dead. That Paul was dead, that Annabeth was off living her own life. A cruel, sick joke. He had laughed, and then lashed out in anger when Stark simply brought up the footage of their apartment building collapsing. He hadn't said anything on the flight back to New York. There was nothing for him to say. Nothing left to feel. For as long as he had been in captivity, he had fantasized about his return home. There would have been a party, he and Annabeth would reunite and live out the rest of their lives happy and in love.

He had been naive to think the fates would be so kind.

He had been naive to think he would ever get a reprieve.

He had naive to think that after all he had been through. All he had sacrificed, that he would have the happy and quiet life that he deserved.

So damn naive.

The gravestone in front of him only served to hammer that point home.

His mother's gravestone.

He could feel the anger burning in his breast, aching to be set free. The tidal wave of the righteous fury of the sea trying to will itself to the surface. But Percy refused to let it out. He refused to allow it to win. His mother wouldn't want that. He couldn't even bring himself to cry anymore. He had done enough of that on the jet.

He was thankful that Steve, who had driven him from the Tower, had left. The man clearly knew that Percy needed his space. He had simply given Percy a card telling him that when he was ready, there was a room at Avengers Tower for him.

Percy had proceeded to throw the damn thing away. He wanted nothing to do with them. Wanted nothing to do with the people who had brought the invasion to earth that killed the only real family he had left.

Maybe that was unfair but he Percy was done with fair. When had life ever been fair to him. If we wanted to be bitter, and hate then he damn well would. Maybe it was selfish and petty of him but he just didn't care anymore. His mother was dead. Dead because he had been off playing the hero. Again. What had being the hero ever gotten him? What had being a good guy ever gotten him? Dead friends. A dead mother. And the girl of his dreams in the arms of another man. Yeah, that seemed about right. Percy was done with it. It was time he would start looking out for himself.

What was he going to do now though? Where would he go? Unbidden, Annabeth's face jumped to the forefront of his mind. He would go to her. Consequences be damned. He would get his Wise Girl back. She was it. She was the key to his remaining sanity. The only potential light in the eternal abyss in front of him. Sure, she might be with some prep school asshat right now, but that didn't matter. The second that she saw him again, she would ditch her wannabe boytoy and they could go back to the way things were.

Yeah…that would work. That's what needed to happen here.

A bright flash of light from behind him brought Percy out of his thoughts. Spinning around and dropping to one knee, Percy brought his arms up in a defensive stance. On instinct he had willed the water around him to begin swirling about him in a defensive pattern. It swayed and flowed like mini rivers, ready to lash out at its master's command. There was a loud whooshing sound and the light vanished. In its place stood a humanoid figure. It was dressed in a red and white jumpsuit that looked like something from a bad sci-fi movie. In one hand the figure held a large hammer, in the other was a rectangular metal briefcase.

"What the hell…" Percy said under his breathe.

The figure, who had seemed a little disoriented after their arrival, finally seemed to shake off the cobwebs and looked at Percy. Or as much as it could in that strange oblong helmet it was wearing.

It spoke, its voice coming out modulated like it was speaking through a radio, "I'm sorry about this kid, but I can't fail. Not again."

Before Percy could say anything about the absurdity of that statement, the figure blurred into action. Faster than Percy could even think to react, the red and white man, because it certainly sounded like a man, had grabbed a fistful of Percy's soaking jacket. His other hand, which had dropped the hammer to the ground, was now holding a glowing, yellow stone. The stranger thrust the hand forward, and both the hand and the stone seemed to phase through Percy.

In an instant, the graveyard, the rain, all of New York disappeared from around Percy. Instead he was floating along a city street, his body non longer corporeal. Hearing shouting, he looked up, and saw…himself. It was him and yet…it wasn't. His doppelgänger was standing on the stoop to a townhome. Percy wasn't sure where although the angled streets and the trolley tracks in the road were giving him an idea. The not him was arguing with someone in the doorway. Percy's heart stopped in his chest. He suddenly remembered this. His mind was flooded with memories that were not his. He had done exactly what he had been planning on, he had gone to San Francisco, tracked down Annabeth, and attempted to convince her to come back with him.

It hadn't gone well. There had been shouting, Percy had decked her new boyfriend and shattered several of his teeth. Police had been called and Percy had been detained.

The scene shifted, and Percy was pulling rigging off of small salvage vessel boat and storing it on a deck. Gasping again as his ethereal form fell to the ground, his mind was filled with the necessary memories. Memories that were not his. Memories of spending time in jail, of trying and failing to find work doing anything, of finally getting the chance to work as a salvage worker at the Boston Harbor. He remembered this too. The Percy in the memory was stowing away the rest of the line when a jet descended from the skies above. Natasha Romanoff, a woman that he hadn't seen in years stood on the cargo ramp as the jet descended to float just over the water. She told him what was happening, or more specifically what was coming. That the world was going to be invaded again and that this they needed Percy's help. Percy remembered how he had thought that he would never work with these people again. He remembered how he had blamed them for the deaths of his parents, and how he had wrongly felt that they were responsible for his downward spiral. But he also remembered feeling the truth behind the woman's statement. And the clouds thundering around her as she spoke. A sign from the gods themselves that Percy had been needed once more. The ethereal Percy panted as he lay on his hands and knees over the scene. His head throbbed as memory after memory tore at his psyche. He remembered thinking how miserable his life was, how if nothing else, maybe going out fighting against ultimate evil was the way to go. Suicide by genocidal alien.

He remembered accepting the plea for help.

The scene shifted, and Percy was in a field of battle. He was fighting alongside Captain America, albeit a longer haired, bearded version of the man he'd met. They fought off against horde after horde of alien creatures. Had been given a slight reprieve by the timely arrival of Thor, a tree and a talking raccoon.

If Percy's head didn't feel like it was about to burst, he would have laughed at the utter absurdity of the statement.

He remembered Thanos' arrival, of the fruitless battle that ensued. He remembered the ground turning into cement beneath his feet and becoming encased. Unable to move. Unable to fight back.

He remembered the snap. Half of all sentient life in the universe gone, with a snap of fingers.

The scene shifted. It was five years later. They had tried to move on. Had tried to continue the good fight. Had tried and tried and tried. He had been at the compound when that Scott guy had showed up. Had stayed up with Natasha, Stark and Banner and the rest of the team for weeks as they planned and sorted the details. He remembered the time heist.

He remembered when Clint came back alone.

The memories in his head were scattered. Incomplete. The stone wasn't showing him everything, wasn't reminding Percy of every minute detail, just most of it. But it wasn't enough to explain to Percy the pain, anguish and utter fury that encompassed him when Natasha didn't return. It was confusing, but then again, everything about what was happening to him was confusing.

Then the battle. Portals opening and thousands of warriors and heroes from across the cosmos banding together to save the universe.

Steve wielding the hammer. Percy picking it up himself. Tony Stark snapping his fingers.

Thanos turning to dust in the wind.

He remembered the funeral for a man he hardly knew. He saw the smaller funeral for a woman he knew all too well. He saw and recounted the plan that had begun to form in his head. The kernel of an idea to maybe not save his universe, but stop this from happening again to another. He had argued with Steve over who was going to be the one to return the stones and the hammer. Eventually, Percy simply knocked out the good Captain and did it himself.

The pain behind his brow was becoming too much for Percy. His eyes were watering and he clutched at his temple in agony. He screamed for the visions to stop. For the thoughts and memories and overwhelming emotions to cease. Then he felt his stomach shift, and rain on his back and cheeks. He felt the soft loamy soil under knees and between his fingers. He raised his head shakily to look at the man who was no longer a stranger. The helmet was gone now but it didn't matter, he would have known the man regardless of whether he was in that stupid suit or not. Meeting the eyes of the man, Percy shakily got to his feet. His breaths were coming as shaky gasps, and his head still pounded and throbbed like someone was hitting his temples with a hammer. Meeting the eyes of the man in front of him, Percy tried to keep his voice even as he addressed his future self. His voice was shaky and he gasped,

"What….the hell…have…you done?"

The older Percy sighed and rubbed behind his right ear.

"You already know the answer to that." and Percy did, but he needed to hear him say it.

"Just answer the damn question." Percy growled, grabbing at his head with one hand and crewing his eyes shut in a futile effort to block out the pain.

The older Percy took his time before answering the questions. Allowing the stillness of the moment to be filled only with the pattering of rain on the wet grass and the surrounding tombstones.

"It was the future." The older man said finally. "Your future."

Percy had known that. He knew that, because he knew the thoughts and memories of the man in front of him. Not all of his memories, just enough to know that what Percy had witnessed, what he had been subjected to was real. Unbelievable and impossible maybe. But real.

"Why would you show me that? You and I both know that telling me anything isn't going to fix your timeline. You're just fucking up mine." It was true. Percy was reliving the memory in his own mind right. The memory of Bruce Banner, in some kind of weird hybrid between Hulk and Banner, explaining the realities of the "time travel" that Tony Stark had invented. How what was occurring was not fixing the future, simply deviating the course of the younger Percy's own future.

"You're right." The older man said simply with a nod of his head. Telling you changes nothing, would amount to absolutely nothing. You know of a possible future. A future where half of all life in the universe is destroyed and we successfully burn every bridge and ruin every personal relationship we have." Percy tried to ignore him, but the onslaught of thoughts and memories continued to assault his vision. Percy watched in his own mind's eye as he or the other him, pushed away everyone that ever came close, that ever tried to help, that ever attempted to extend an olive branch. But Percy had been too bitter, too jaded to give a damn about anyone else ever again. it was almost physically painful to watch.

"At least," the older Percy's voice cut through the memories, "the future would be impossible to change, if not for this." Percy managed to open his eyes enough to see that the older him was holding what looked to be an ancient hourglass. "This," Said the older Percy addressing his unasked question, "Is Kronos' symbol of power. Dr. Strange just had this lying around collecting dust in his attic if you can believe it." Percy just groaned in response, the visions were fading but the headache was still very present, "This hourglass when combined with the powers of the soul stone and the mind stone…it will erase my timeline from existence. Our realities will blend. My timeline will fade from existence, and cease to be, because my timeline will become this timeline."

Percy powered through the pain long enough to openly gape at that man in front of him, it was absurd. "You're suggesting that we completely eradicate your timeline from existence? That's…that's genocide!" Percy raged, anger roiling. The wind around the cemetery picked up in response to mounting temper.

The older man raised his hands, still clutching the hourglass and stone, in a placating gesture. "No, it's not. Percy, you're not listening to me. I'm not talking about destroying my reality. Ok, how did Strange explain this. Alright so it's like this. The Infinity Stones are sentient. They live, and have real actual thoughts and desires. The soul stone in particular, operates on a bartering system. A soul for a soul. When combining the powers of the soul stone with the time stone, to influence the power of Kronos' Hourglass, we reset the clock. We don't jump to an alternate timeline, instead we things back. My future ceases to exist, not because we destroy it, but because it never happened to begin with. Instead, that timeline, becomes this timeline. Every single person that was lost to Thanos. Every tragic loss, will be reversed, and no one else will even know. No one, except, you."

Percy was at a loss for words. Who the hell did this guy think he was coming here and dropping all of this on Percy? Didn't he know? This had happened to him too, it was all too much, far too quickly. Too much responsibility. Too much potential for tragedy. All he'd wanted was to come home to his family, and in less than twelve hours he'd lost his mother, Paul, Annabeth, and now some loser future version of himself was staking the lives of half of the Universe on his shoulders.

"Why come here now?" He asked his older self, "If we have the potential to save everyone, to reverse the future and keep all of this bad shit from happening, why come now? Why not back further and-"

"We can't save mom again Percy." his older self cut Percy off.

"Why the hell not?!" Percy raged, "If we can reverse time, if we can go back and save mom. Save Paul, why are you here and not in New York keeping them safe!" If Percy didn't know without a shadow of a doubt that the man in front of him was himself, Percy would have called the man a fraud and cut him down where he stood. He just didn't understand, how could they be talking about any of this time travel crap if he couldn't save his mother?

"Time Travel…it isn't like Stark or even Banner described," said the other man. He was referencing the separate discussions that his future self had with the two scientists. "Timelines have points of divergence. Individual moments where the future can be changed, either for good or bad. Other moments are static, they have to happen whether we like it or not because they influence the divergences. The moments in time where individual choices and actions drastically alter the scale of history."

"Then we go back to before the battle!" Percy yelled, "We go back and we get mom and Paul and we leave New York! If I'm not there, I don't take part in the battle, I don't get taken by HYDRA and mom and Paul stay alive."

The other man seemed to crumple, he collapsed onto the grass in a heap. Percy had never seen such a defeated looking man. "You think that wasn't my first thought kid?" he asked, and Percy froze, cold dread flowing over him as his stomach tightened. The older man chuckled darkly, "Yeah. Before I left, I had Strange predict over ten million separate scenarios where Mom and Paul live through the battle. You wanna know what happened?" Percy didn't but the man told him anyway, "We get jumped at the hotel we stay at, mom and Paul get shot and we get taken anyway. In another timeline, we stay, mom and Paul don't die in the battle but are on a plane over the Rockies when they get snapped. What do you think happened when the snap got reversed, and they reappeared over twenty-thousand feet in the air over the Rocky Mountains? In another, they get caught up in a pretty bad scene while doing humanitarian work in Lagos. In every single possible situation, mom dies. Sometimes Paul makes it, most of the time he doesn't." Percy wasn't sure if it was rain or tears staining the man's cheeks now, "There is nothing we can do to save them."

But as the thoughts raced in his head, there was a traitorous voice. It was calm and soothing and sounded so much like his mother that it hurt to hear. "You know what you have to do Percy." It told him. "You know that he's right. You're a hero."

"No, I'm not. Not anymore." he said. And he wasn't sure if he had actually said the words out loud or if he simply thought them. The voice answered him anyways.

"You are. It's who you've always been. Who you always will be. You stand there and pretend like you're not going to do the right thing but we both know that isn't true. Tell me this, what are you going to do if you say no. What happens if you say no, and everything you just saw, becomes your own reality. Will you be able to live with yourself knowing that you could have done something to stop it from happening?" He knew the answer to that. Even if he didn't like it. Even if he hated it. He knew that if he could have done something to prevent the events that he had seen from unfolding, and he had opted to sit on the sidelines and let them happen, then he was just as guilty of universal genocide as Thanos. The voice in his head seemed to hum in satisfaction, knowing that Percy had at least subconsciously come to the correct conclusion.

Instead of voicing his ascent out loud, Percy asked, "What's the cost? Something like this; this kind of magical cure-all, it doesn't come without a cost. So, what is it?"

His older self smiled sadly, and couldn't quite meet Percy's eyes. "It's me." he said simply, "I give my life, my soul to the soul stone, and in exchange you retain everything you saw. It's why I used the mind stone. It's why I showed you what I did, why I shared my sorry stupid story with you."

Percy was floored, "How the hell does that make any sense, you just said this was a reset. You should simply cease to be, not be subjected to eternity in the stone!"

His other just shrugged, "That was the deal the stone offered. I agreed to the terms." Seeing another protest on Percy's lips the other man simply raised a hand. "It is my choice kid. My life and my soul. Listen, I've lived my life up to this point with a lot of regrets. Things I have should have done but didn't, things I shouldn't have done but I did anyways. This? Giving my soul to save…Everyone else's? That's one thing I'll have absolutely no regrets about."

Percy wanted to argue the point more, but he saw that his other had already made up his made. Had made peace with the decision. Percy knew himself well enough to know that when he had made a decision then there was no changing his mind. He was stubborn like that, he got it from his father.

Instead of arguing, Percy asked, "What the hell am I supposed to do? Tell the Avengers? You know they'll think I'm crazy right? They won't buy into something like that."

His other shook his head, "You're right, well except maybe Thor but he always had a bit of a soft spot where we're concerned. No, you simply need to protect the stones and the team. We lost because the Avengers were fractured. I wasn't there for it, never heard the whole story, but I know it all begins and ends with what happens in Sokovia. You keep the team together, and instead of fighting on separate fronts, fighting separate fights, you can all be prepared. Gain the team's trust, let them in, and they will let you in." The man then shrugged his large shoulders and scratched behind his ear, "After that, I figured you'd just tell them you had a demigod dream about the purple bastard coming to earth and you'd all band together to be ready to beat his sorry ass to hell and back." He grew serious again, "The Mind Stone was the last stone Thanos collected. He got it here on earth, don't worry, you won't need to worry about tracking it down, it'll come to you." Percy had to trust him on that one, he didn't know the full story over Vision, but he knew enough to get by with that. "Protect Vision, you protect the stone and when the time comes. Go for the head."

Percy simply nodded at that, the image of Thor crushing his axe into the chest of Thanos burned into his memory forever.

"Ok." Percy said finally, "I'm in. Let's do it. Let's save the universe."

His other smiled.

It was a victorious smile.

**2023**

**Avengers Compound**

"And returning him back in three…two…one…Now!"

Banner slammed the lever down that was meant to return Jackson to their time. There was a series of pops and sizzles, but nothing happened.

"Where is he?" Rogers asked, a bright bruise shining over his right eye.

"I don't know?" said Banner, confused and slightly panicking.

"You don't know? How the hell can you not know? Did he miss the jump?" Wilson's questions came off in rapid fire succession.

"I mean that I don't know!" Banner growled as he hurriedly began fiddling with panels and switches on the display.

Banner, Rogers, and Wilson continued to argue back and forth over how they could have lost Jackson to the past, whether or not he had opted to stay in the past, and a whole host of other possibilities. During the course of the arguing, Steven Strange simply walked away from the arguing.

Following a small footpath he made it to a small inland lake on the edge of the compound. Beside the lake, was a small picturesque bench. He took a seat. He wasn't worried. He knew what was happening, and he knew Jackson was right where he needed to be. That he had missed the pickup point was proof enough to him that Jackson had managed to what he had set out to accomplish.

Reaching out with his senses, Strange extended his will and his essence into the realm beyond him. He smiled. A true genuine smile. The first he'd had in entirely too long. He could feel the shaking in the world around him. Could feel the enormous buildup of raw, magical energy. Jackson had done it. He had managed to make it work. His smile turned sad, and sardonic. He knew more than anyone what the brave man was sacrificing. His very soul, to prevent this, all of this, from ever coming to be. No one would ever know of his ultimate sacrifice.

There was a rumble, almost like thunder and the ground began to shake beneath his feet. In the distance, a bright blue cloud of energy began to descend on the heavens. Opening his eyes, Strange watched as it rapidly grew in size. Behind him, he could that the arguing had stopped and footsteps were quickly approaching his position on the bench. He felt them before he saw them. Rogers was the first on the scene, followed by Wilson, Barnes and Banner.

"What is that?" Strange heard Roger's whisper.

The cloud was growing more quickly in size, before it suddenly exploded and blue energy began to wash over the landscape, the wave of energy was approaching the lake faster than they could blink.

Just before they were engulfed in the blue energy, Strange turned to look Rogers in the eye, a sad smile on his face, "That, Captain, is what Mr. Jackson was doing." Then the energy was upon them.

And they were gone.

**BREAK **

**2015**

**SOMEWHERE IN THE GALAXY**

Deep within the hulls of the Benatar, its crew was fast asleep. Light snoring coming from the various bunks as the ship sat in orbit of a distant star. All except for one it's crew, her green skin was coated in a thick layer of sweat, her breathing coming in heaving gasps. She tried to collect her thoughts but her head was pounding, images, feelings, and memories of events that had not happened were playing out in her mind as though they had happened merely moments ago.

Overcome with sudden queasiness, she hurriedly grasped at the trash can next to her bunk and promptly vomited. She upended the entirety of the contents of her stomach into the bin before collapsing back into her bunk.

She stared up at the achingly familiar ceiling, breathing in all too familiar scents and listening to too familiar snoring. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Reaching for the blade she had kept under her pillow when she had last been on the ship, she nipped the tip of her right index finger. The sting of pain, the drip of blood.

This was real.

She wasn't dead.

She had work to do.

BREAK

Percy collapsed to his hands and knees breathing deeply. "That" he gasped to no one in particular, "Was infinitely more painful than I was expecting." Clenching his fist tightly, he reveled in the newfound strength. Apparently, his future self had left him with a few parting gifts. His strength and his training. It would come in handy. Percy was three years out of practice and as he had witnessed, his other self had spent five years straight fighting and training. He felt like he was in his prime and while there were still gaps in the memories, something he hadn't understood, Percy knew enough to know where he was meant to go and how to get there.

Standing up and cracking his back, he turned towards the city lights in the distance. There, standing tall and proud, was the large tower in the middle of midtown. The large "A" illuminating brightly, a beacon of hope and safety.

"Things will be different." He said.

And with a will of the water around him, Percy vapor-travelled away.

Excelsior.

**AN: Ok so this story much more attention than I anticipated. So I decided a little double feature would be in order. Two chapters, and a story under these fandoms I have never seen before. Of course I could just be missing something but if I haven't seen it then it's new to me. Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think, and if you want some more of this in the future. Thanks for all the love and support, **

**Love, LilDB**


	4. Welcome Home

"Wait. Is that it?"

"Yup"

"But….but….that was a terrible ending.

"How so?"

"Everything is wrong! Han's dead."

"Ok no, he's frozen, stop being so dramatic."

"Luke is dismembered."

"And he almost immediately got a replacement for the hand he stupidly lost."

"I did not enjoy that."

"You weren't supposed to. The second movie is supposed to leave you feeling sad and uncomfortable."

"How does that make any sense?"

"It helps you empathize with the characters. Their loss becomes yours; their pain is your pain and their triumphs are your triumphs."

"That's stupid. If I watch a film, I want escape from the burdens of reality. Besides, all stories should have a happy ending."

Natasha finally interrupted Steve and Clint's arguing. "Barton shut up. Stop baiting him." She said as she chucked a few kernels of popcorn at him and she ignored Clint's yelps about how she was treating wounded comrades and turned her attention to the soldier. Steve wasn't sure when it had happened but at some point during the movie, the spy had shifted so that her legs were thrown over Steve's lap, his arms resting over her thighs and her head propped up by a pillow. Looking him in the eye, her own eyes softened as she spoke. With an easy smile on her face she said, "Take it easy soldier boy. There's still a third movie and plenty of time for the good guys to turn it around." Kicking him lightly with her heel she added, "Sometimes you gotta lose before you can win. You know that." And there it was. That wistful look and sad smile.

She had been like this for two days. Really since he had gotten back from dropping off Percy. She had always been hard for him to read. He has gotten better at it since Fury had partnered them up, he had gotten a better look at how the woman thought and operated but he still could only figure her out fifty percent of the time. But the last two days had been...weird. Affectionate was the wrong word. And it wasn't flirty either. Steve had seen that, up close and personal. And that wasn't what was happening. She shadowed him everywhere he went. They had been close to being in sync with each other when they were partnered for SHIELD. But this was next level, they arrived at the gym at the same time. They ate and cleaned at the same time. They were communicating without actually speaking or even really having to look at one another. Steve wasn't sure when or how it had happened but he and Natasha had not only picked up where they had left off, but they had somehow managed to get closer.

Steve didn't know how to react to it. On the one hand, he had missed the woman. Missed their dynamic, missed the snarky banter and had missed the knowledge of having her watch his back. It was nothing against Sam, but Sam wasn't Nat. However, he wasn't about to pretend like the six months of radio silence hadn't hurt. Steve had thought they were closer than that, but maybe he was wrong. And to an extent he understood. He understood she was a woman who had spent her whole life being told who she was, and cultivating a knew persona every morning. Then, to have all of that thrust in the open and dissolved in front of you was earth shattering. Hell, Steve respected her more when he had found out about her internet info dump on the internet. So, he understood that she had needed to find herself. He had maybe just wished she had asked him to come along.

Maybe he also wished that he had been the one to ask.

Bringing himself out of his thoughts, he smiled at the woman. "You seem extra profound tonight." He observed. She moved to kick him again but he swiftly caught her by the ankle and forced her foot still, one hand casually massaging the ankle. Looking over, he noted that Clint has once again fallen asleep in his chair. The meds Dr. Cho had him on, made him a touch narcoleptic. Turning his attention back to his partner, he saw that she was watching him carefully. As though appraising him. "Talk to me Nat. What's going on in that head of yours. You've been a million miles away all week."

She started a bit. He wanted to laugh, apparently she had thought that he wouldn't notice the change in her patterns. "You shouldn't be so surprised." He chided with. Soft smile as he continued to play with her ankle, "We WERE partners once upon a time and shockingly enough, I DID pay attention."

Her eyes widened before narrowing playfully, "Is there anything else you've been paying close attention to Rogers?" She asked, nudging his chest with her free foot.

Steve's face reddened and he averted his eyes. Natasha's chuckle started low in the back of her throat and sent a tingle up Steve's spine. Hell's Bell's what had gotten into this woman? She disappears for months on end. No contact. No idea where she is or if she's even alive. Then one day she just shows up at the tower, acting like she had never left at all, and then there was that weird thing with Banner. Steve was confused. More confused than he had ever been with Peggy.

Which was impressive if he was honest.

"You're deflecting." He said, trying to get her back on track. "What's going on Romanoff?" He felt his gaze soften a little as he looked at her. Now it was her turn to sigh and avert her gaze. She crossed her arms but other left her legs over Steve's.

Finally she answered him. "I guess it's just that...the last couple of days have put things into perspective. My life has never been exactly...stable." She said, and Steven was struck by the realization that this might be the most he had ever heard her open up. "Even when I was a little girl, it was made perfectly clear how fragile a human life could be. But...it's always just been me. The only person I've ever had to worry about is myself. And then...when Clint went down...I guess it just kind of hit home that it isn't just me anymore. Me, became We. I've never really been a part of a team like this before...it's just hard for me." Her gaze shifted over towards Clint. His mouth was hanging open as he snored, the blanket over his legs starting to stoop low over his hips.

Then her gaze shifted over to Steve. "I know it wasn't serious. Doubly so since Percy stepped in, but it did get me thinking. You have, what you have, when you have it. So we can't waste the time that we have." As she said it, she looked Steve dead in the eyes. Her own green orbs staring almost imploringly into his own. Almost like she was searching for something, searching for something in him.

When he finally found his voice, it was little more than a whisper. "I agree." He said softly, "I've been here for nearly three years. Stuck in a time and a place that I didn't belong." He didn't quite know why he was opening up right now. But it was something he felt he needed to say. Especially after what Nat had just confessed. "And I've been stuck...stuck thinking about people and places that I'll never get back. About the ones I left behind. And you're right. We have what we have when we have it. And right here. Right now. I have you. I have this team. I think it's time I stop thinking on all of the "could have been's" and "what if's" and start focusing on the here and now.

Natasha didn't say anything. She just stared at him. He stared back. Neither speaking, and barely even blinking. Then, Natasha sighed, sounding equal parts relieved and disappointed. He was confused but she just smiled reassuringly at him and he couldn't help smiling back.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Natasha and Steve snapped their attention away from each other.

Standing in the doorway to the media room, Percy Jackson placed a large and overstuffed duffel bag on the ground. Crossing his arms over his chest, he just leaned against the doorway, an amused and teasing smirk on his lips. He had shaved and gotten a haircut since Steve had dropped him off at the cemetery. His previously long and unkempt hair was now short and stylishly cropped along the sides. His shaggy beard was trimmed and neat. He no longer had the dark circles under his eyes, and most importantly, he was smiling.

Steve and Natasha shared a brief look. Steve place a long arm over the back of the couch as he addressed Percy. "You're looking better." He said, ignoring Percy's greeting. "But I'm surprised you're here."

Percy shrugged, shirking off his jacket as he approached the couch. He rolled the sleeves of his Henley up, "Where else would I be?" He said as he sat down in another comfortable loveseat.

"Figured you'd be on the west coast by now. Chasing down your girl."

For a few seconds, Percy didn't say anything. In fact, he acted like he hadn't even heard Steve. Then, before Steve could say anything further, he said, "I was going to." He said. His voice little more than a murmur over the fireplace still roaring nearby. "I was prepared to storm Annabeth's castle. Knock the block off the guy she's been dating and ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after." His smile was sad and sardonic. Like he was laughing at a joke only he understood.

"But?" Prompted Natasha, who was paying an unusual amount of attention to the young man.

Percy looked up at her, meeting her gaze evenly in a way that Steve had not seen many others manage. "But then I woke up." Percy said simply. He sighed and rubbed at a spot behind his ear. "I thought about what my mom would have wanted. More importantly I thought about what Annabeth would have wanted, what she would have done in my place." He pulled one leg up to sit on the edge of the seat and he hugged it against himself as he continued to talk. "Had our roles been reversed. Had Annabeth disappeared and I had moved on…I wouldn't want her storming back into my life demanding me to dump my girl for her. That's….just stupid. Stupid and unfair. No she would want me to be happy to live the life I was living with the people that we're living it with. More importantly, mom would kick my sorry butt if she found out that I pulled a stunt like that." He had a sad smile on his lips, but he looked so much better to Steve than the empty husk of a man he had left a few days ago.

Natasha was still watching Percy closely, but it was very different to the way she had been staring at Steve only a few minutes before. She was studying Percy, analyzing him. It was a drastic shift from the way she had treated him on the jet. There, she had been supportive, and empathetic but here, she was almost tense. Steve could see it in the slight tightening of her jaw, and the way her right hand seemed to clench, like she was trying to keep herself from reaching for the weapon he knew she kept on her thigh at all times. Steve filed his observations of her strange behavior as something to address later.

Looking back at Percy, Steve gave him a proud smile, "Looks like everyone's been facing some demons tonight. So, I take it this means you thought about my offer."

Percy just nodded, "Yeah, I figured that if I'm going to try and move on, I need to take advantage of opportunities when they open up. I'm in, one-hundred percent." He then scratched at his neck self-consciously, "If you'll have me that is."

Surprising Steve, it was Nat who spoke first, "Of course. This team will always have openings for bright new talent. We'll have a full orientation and breakdown of your skills in the morning. But first, we have a very important mission for you, New Blood." Percy raised an eyebrow and sat up straight, eyes intense and ready. She pointed at the still paused DVD menu on the large screen in front of them, "Put in Return of the Jedi. Before Steve has another breakdown."

For a second Percy just stared, a mixture of incredulity of disbelief on his features. Then he laughed; a deep, happy belly-laugh. Sounding every bit the young man he should be. As he stood up to look through the pile of DVD's on the floor, Steve felt Nat shift around on the couch, until her legs shifted off of his lap and her head found its place nestled on his shoulder. He stiffened for a second at the sudden intimate contact, before smiling and relaxing. As the screen faded and the opening text scroll began to run, Steve felt for the first time in a long time that he was truly home.

BREAK

Percy ducked under a right hook. As he stooped low, he looped his right arm though the swing and pulled his assailant close. Wrapping his right leg around the ankle of his opponent he tripped them to ground. His counter stunned his opponent and Percy wasted no time. Percy grabbed the chest piece of his opponent and lifted it back to its feet. With the construct back on its feet, Percy kicked it, sending the digital construct sprawling into the opponent coming up behind it. The two constructs collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Trusting the tingling in the back of his neck, Percy spun on his heel and parried a series of knife attacks from his newest attacker. The construct over extended its reach, leaving its arm open for attack. Percy grabbed it by the wrist holding the knife. Twisting violently counter-clockwise, Percy effectively "broke" the attacker's wrist, causing it to drop the knife. Catching the knife in midair Percy reversed his grip on the weapon and rammed it into the throat of animated attacker. Instead of pulling the weapon free, Percy used the knife as a fulcrum and drove the now deceased being backward as a human shield. The back of his new "shield" shuttered violently as a series of shots rang out in the small chamber. The new focus of Percy's attack was armed with a pistol. The pistol was real even if the being holding the weapon was little more than a digital creation of Tony Stark. While the gun wasn't loaded with real bullets, the rubber bullets would still pack a punch and hurt Percy if they found their mark.

Percy had no intention of finding just how much the rubber bullets would hurt.

When he was within a foot of his newest victim Percy leveraged himself into the air, using the still embedded knife handle as an anchor, and wrapped his right leg around the neck of the shooter. He then swung himself free of his "shield" and used the momentum of the swing to maneuver down and behind his victim. As he swung, he tightened his grip around the construct's neck and brought it down to the ground with him. Wasting no movements, Percy rolled over so he was straddling the lap of the shooter before delivering a devastating forearm blow to the temple. Knowing it would be a lethal strike on a human enemy Percy rolled off the legs of the downed enemy and sprang to his feet, only to immediately be grappled from behind. As the enemy strengthened its hold around his midsection, a second attacker materialized directly in front of Percy, a long, serrated blade in its grip.

Using his still free legs, Percy pushed up and away, forcing his captor to stagger backwards, and keeping Percy out of the way of the knife. With his feet still airborne, Percy kicked out, catching the knife wielding assailant in its chin. The Percy wrapped one large arm around the neck of the one grappling him. Twisting in midair, Percy reversed their positions and suplexed the construct. Percy felt the back of the attacker break as it made contact with the mat. Getting back to his feet Percy took a calming breath as he faced the next onslaught.

In an observation booth away from the action, an ensemble of the Avengers watched the show with going interest.

"He's good." said Clint off-handedly, his arms folded over his chest as he watched the action with interest.

Beside him, Thor laughed, "Indeed. Although, this is nothing. You should see what he can do with a sword in his hand."

"A sword? Seriously?" Asked Rogers incredulously,

"Says the man who routinely breaks the laws of physics with a shield." snarked Clint, and wisely Steve closed his mouth instead of responding. Smirking, Clint then turned back over to address the thunder god, "Joking aside, I kind of agree with the Captain. What do you mean sword?"

The god shrugged, "He was trained in his youth to wield a blade. As the stories go, he was the most proficient swordsman in centuries."

"You keep mentioning stories, how many are there and how exactly did they reach you when Asgard is off-planet?"

"My family and home may no longer reside on Midgard, but that does mean we are blind to what occurs here." Thor answered cryptically, "However, between my father, Heimdall and Hephaestus TV, I have seen and heard enough about Peresus' skills with the blade." Beside Thor, Clint turned to mouth 'Hephaestus TV' at Natasha, however his friend wasn't looking at him. In that moment it struck the archer that Nat hadn't taken her eyes off of the rookie since the little orientation began.

Her behavior was starting to become a little worrisome for the archer. She had been acting off for days. Discounting everything that was going on between her and Rogers, because apparently THAT was a thing, but he had caught her staring at him too. It was subtle, but he had known her long enough to catch her at it. She just glanced over to him every couple of minutes or so, as though she was trying to reassure herself that Clint was still there. He recognized it; she had done the same when they had been in deep cover operations. Clint watched idly as Percy dispatched another pair of animated combatants but Clint had to blink a few times as he watched it unfold. That takedown had been textbook Natasha. Hell, the kid's entire fighting style might as well have been nearly identical to his friend's. Granted, it wasn't a one-for-one rip-off. The kid had augmented the technique to incorporate is superior strength, but the chokeholds and counters were nearly the same. Watching as Natasha's fists tightened slightly, he wasn't the only one who had noticed.

Apparently, Rogers had seen it too.

"He fights like you Nat." the Captain said softly, mostly to Natasha but the entire room heard him clearly.

"Aye" agreed Thor, "I had noticed that as well. His movements are very fluid. It is almost like a dance."

Natasha didn't say anything, but her jaw tensed tight as she clenched her teeth together.

"I suppose it's not that unusual." Said Clint slowly, gauging Nat for her reaction. "After all you use varied forms of Jujitsu and Tae Kwon Do. It's not out of the realm of possibilities that the kid was trained in both of those as well."

"Perhaps," said Thor after a moment had passed, a thoughtful hand resting against his chin as he thought, "Although I do not recall ever hearing that unarmed combat was included in the Greeks training regiments. However, it is possible that things have changed since my last meeting with their kind. It has been a very long time."

As they were speaking, Percy's form changed. Switching from the more fluid and graceful stance he had been using to that matching a boxer. His posture became more rigid and arms hung loosely in front of his face. A group of three attackers charged at him at once. bouncing between hard jabs and hooks, Percy transitioned seamlessly between boxing and a form of Muay Thai. Using his knees and elbows to level devastating blows to points of vulnerability.

"Interesting range he's got." Said Rogers, "That looks pretty similar to the CQC regs the SHIELD instructors drilled me on."

"He was in lockup for what, three years?" Clint asked abruptly as a thought occurred to him,

"Give or take, why?" asked Rogers,

"Well, they were barely feeding him, torturing him on the regular, and keeping him confined to a small cell for three years. How in the hell is he this fresh? He hasn't wasted a movement or even really slipped up since he started. I don't know about the rest of you, but if I went three days without training, I'd be sloppy, let alone three years." Clint wasn't trying to be hyper-critical of the kid, he had pulled his ass out of the fryer after all, but it just didn't make sense to him. Surely his skill set should have atrophied at least a little bit, but the kid looked fresher than Nat after a day of bed rest.

"You are forgetting something my friend," said Thor, a laugh rumbling in his chest, "Perseus is not like you or the Lady Natasha or the good Captain. He is of Olympus. Godly Ichor flows in his vein, and he has been trained since he was a child. His skills will not deteriorate, he will not falter, he will always stand tall and be victorious. It is his way."

Clint shared a look of incredulity with Rogers. Granted, they didn't see the big guy as much as the rest of the team, but still, they had never heard the man talk like this before.

"You really admire him, don't you?" Asked Rogers

Thor nodded and hummed in thought, "I do. The tales of Perseus Jackson became some of my favorites in the Banquet Hall. A champion son, fighting for survival and always trying to be the best man he can be in the worst of circumstances. I had always been a fan of the young one, but it was not until my banishment that I truly came to appreciate and admire him. I was lost, I did not have my family, or my friends, and was trapped in a strange foreign world to which I felt I did not belong. It was then that the stories I had heard and seen flooded back to me. I connected with them in a way I had not thought possible. I grew to appreciate the man I had never met and vowed to myself to try and pay back in some small way what he had given to me."

"Which was?" prompted Clint,

"Hope" said Thor simply, "Hope that no matter what obstacle was thrown my way, I would be able to overcome it. Hope that if I stayed true to the man that I wanted to be, the man I believed myself to be, that I would truly live a life becoming of that man. He helped me find myself. I can never thank him enough for that."

"A couple of stories about a teenager were enough to inspire that much of a reaction out of you?" Clint asked, nonplussed. "Forgive me, 'cause he seems like a good kid and he did save my sorry ass but that just doesn't seem enough to inspire, you know, a literal god."

It took Thor several seconds to compose his thoughts and formulate a response, "Have you not wondered why he did not seem more distressed about the physical pain he had endured?" he asked, Clint shrugged, the thought had not really occurred to him.

"I guess I just figured he was more broken up over the loss of his family. But now that you mention it, it does seem rather odd that he doesn't show any real signs of physical discomfort. After what they put him through you would think he would shy away from any type of physical contact but he seems….miraculously well-adjusted."

Thor laughed again. Only this time it was hollow and bitter. "This was not the first time our young comrade had been subjected to the depravity of others." he said bitterly. "How well versed are you Greek Legends."

"Got the basics down. Had to read the Iliad and the Odyssey in school." Rogers supplied,

"Are you aware of the Great Pit. Of Tartarus?" Thor asked, his arms now folded uncomfortably over his large chest.

"That's like, their hell or something right?" asked Clint, "Where Zeus threw his father after he usurped the throne."

Thor nodded, "That is a…simple way of describing it but yes, I suppose that is accurate."

"Ok…" said Rogers, "What does that have to do with him though?" he asked, jerking his thumb at Percy.

"When he was seventeen, he jumped into the pit, an act of desperation to save the woman he loved." Thor said simply, letting the gravity of that statement sink in for a moment. Clint suddenly felt hollow. A little weak in the knees. Hell. The kid had jumped into literal hell. Rogers looked like he was either about to be sick or break something. Clint couldn't really tell.

"I see that you are beginning to understand the meaning of it." Thor nodded, "I do not know what occurred down there. I only know one thing for certain. Time in the Pit passes differently. For every day up here, it is a year in there. Perseus was in the Pit for nearly three weeks."

"Jesus." breathed out Clint slowly, too stunned and sickened to really say anything else. He had seen and been a part of some truly twisted things in his life, but for a seventeen-year-old to spend nearly twenty years in literal hell…and to manage to escape…looking back out of the viewport he found a newfound respect and admiration for the young man fighting on the mats. Looking back at Nat, Clint saw something flash across her features that was hard to recognize. It was almost like anger and protective righteous fury. As though she felt singularly guilty for what had happened to the man. It was befuddling to say the least. He had always had a hard time figuring out his former partner, but now he was even more confused. He had thought she had been threat assessing the new guy this whole time. But maybe it was something else. Maybe she knew more than she was letting on. He would have to watch her closely, maybe confront her on these new attitudes.

They stayed quiet for a few minutes after Thor's proclamation. Each invested in their own thoughts. Finally, Rogers decided that enough was enough. Walking over to the control panel, he flipped a couple of switches and the simulation began to fade away. Rogers' face was a blank mask. But Clint knew the man well enough by now to know that he was not happy. Rogers had a guilt complex as expansive as the Grand Canyon and right now Clint knew that he was fighting his own personal war. A similar one to what Clint was feeling as well. They should have been there for the kid, should have been there to help. It was who they were. They were supposed to be the ones risking life and limb to stave off the end of the world, not a teenager not even old enough to legally serve his country.

Clint had owed the kid before, had felt the beginning of a debt stirring in his breast. Now those feelings had been increased by a magnitude of ten or more. He would be there for him, be a friend and confidant. The father in him furious that no one else could or would be there. By the way the rest of the room was acting, everyone else was feeling the same way as him.

"That's enough Percy." Steve said into the microphone at the control table. "We've seen everything we needed to see."

"Welcome to the team."


	5. Countdown to the End of the World

He'd never really been one for parties. The strangers, drinking, thumping bass; it was distracting. Especially on a night like tonight. Under normal circumstances Percy would be anywhere else; curled up on a couch watching a movie, or doing something, anything, else. But it started tonight. Before he had come back, he had spent time researching each and every even leading up to Thanos' arrival. He analyzed every possible scenario that could have led to the downfall of the team and their inevitable defeat.

And it started tonight.

It was an interesting tightrope that he was walking now. On the one hand, he knew what was going to happen; knew that what began tonight would lead to death and destruction on a scale only seen before in world wars and New York.

And he had to let it happen.

During his preparation he had known that he would have to let certain things play out as they had. He had briefly considered simply trying to destroy Ultron or even stopping Tony from creating the blasted thing in the first place, but Stephan had advised him against it. He had told Percy that he had looked into possible outcomes should Vision never be created. In not one potential timeline was Percy successful in talking Tony out of creating Ultron. The man was simply too absorbed in his desire to protect the world from potential extinction to be reasoned with. It was an admirable quality, even if the man was a stubborn controlling ass about it. And then there was the Ultron problem itself, only the Vision was capable of effectively removing Ultron's artificial existence.

So yes, Percy had known that he would need to let the events coming play out as they had. And prior to coming to the past, he had felt more than comfortable with the thought. But now that he was here, or rather now that his knowledge was Percy's, he was not quite prepared for it. It was easy to look from a distance, and say that he was going to be fine with letting Ultron do what needed to be done. At the time it had still been abstract, not quite a reality. But now that the moment was arriving. Now that the possibility for catastrophic loss of life was approaching, Percy's stomach was unendingly clenched in discomfort. He could not simply sit idly by as Sokovia was destroyed. As tens of thousands of lives were lost or ruined in the mess Stark and Banner had created.

He needed a plan. He just didn't have one. So he was going to do what he had always done best. Wing it and pray for the best.

It had worked out so far.

Except that it really hadn't. Since his fusion with his future self, an endeavor that Percy knew had been thrown together almost by whim, Percy had been having painful flashes of the future. His mind would be filled with images of things yet to come. Every time he closed his eyes he would reawaken in some new fresh hell. It was like the pit all over again. He had been putting on a brave front for the others the last couple days but he suspected that some of them knew he wasn't doing as well as he pretended he was.

It felt like he was being pulled in twelve directions at once. On the one hand, part of him was still deeply despairing over the loss of his family, the years of torture and isolation, and of Annabeth. But then some other part of him would scream and tell him, 'no that was years ago, the real torment was what happened in Wakanda, losing Nat and Tony and everything else.' He felt like he was going insane, and didn't know how to react to the growing despair and worry inside himself.

Which is exactly how he found himself sitting alone in a corner, nursing a beer, watching as other's enjoyed themselves.

"So you gonna sit there sulking or are you going to try and have some fun?" a familiar voice drew Percy's attention away from his scheming. He tried to keep a lid on his emotions as Sam Wilson sat down in the seat next to him. Percy had only briefly known Sam in the future, but they had hit it off pretty well and Percy had been able to call the man a friend. He was actually looking forward to getting to know the man this time around.

"Sam Wilson," said the man, extending a hand that Percy shook.

"Percy Jackson, Steve put you up to this?" Percy asked, looking over to said man who was currently posted up at the bar. When he saw Percy look at him he quickly turned away and tried to pretend to be interested in whatever the woman next to him was saying.

The man next to him simply chuckled, "Something like that," he said,

"Alright then." Percy said, raising his hands in a 'bring it' gesture, "Hit me with it."

"With what?" laughed Sam as he leaned back in his seat.

"Whatever psycho-analytical thing you came over here to do."

"Oh, I'm no shrink."

"Alright, then what are you?"

"Someone who understands."

"Understands?" Percy asked, eyebrow raised.

Sam sighed and put his glass down on the table in front of them. Sitting up straighter in his seat he leaned forward, staring intently at the bottle. "Listen, Steve is a mother hen. Whether he acknowledges it or not. He can't help himself, it's just who he is. And believe me, he's thrilled that you're here, guy wouldn't shut up about you to me on the phone, but he's worried about you."

"Worried" Percy asked, confused, "He barely even knows me. Why's he worried."

Sam just shot him a look, "Besides the fact that apparently you can fight toe to toe with three avengers, one of whom is a god and HYDRA did god only knows to you?" Percy quickly averted his gaze, despite the time dilation, the memories of the last three years under HYDRA still felt all too fresh. "He's worried because you just found out everything you thought you were coming home to is gone now." Sam didn't beat around the bush, wasn't going to pull any punches, and despite the fact that his chest still compressed painfully at the thought of his family, Percy appreciated that. Sam ignored Percy's obvious discomfort and continued, "Steve just wants me to check in on you. Make sure that you know that you ain't alone in all of this."

"I know that." Percy said, gripping his bottle tightly in his hand.

"Like I said, he's a mother hen. Man can't help but worry. But listen to me man, sitting here, stewing up in your own head. It ain't good for you. Don't bottle that shit up. You really think your parents would want that for you?"

For a moment, Percy could almost see his mother standing in front of him, her beautiful smile still on her face. Unbidden, tears pricked at the corner of his eyes and he ducked his head so he could swipe at them. Mercifully, Sam gave him that.

"No." Percy said, when he'd had a minute to compose himself, "No she wouldn't."

"Then don't," Said Sam simply, "I'll tell you the same thing I told the folks at the VA, we have a duty to those who didn't make it home. We have to live for them. Have lives that are not ruled by what happened the day before, or by the 'could have beens'. Otherwise, all we're doing is disrespecting their memory."

Percy took another shuddering breath as more and images of those that had been lost, past and future kept flashing through his head. After a minute, he managed to empty his thoughts of the flashes, and he nodded. Shakily at first and then more assuredly.

Giving the man next to him a watery smile, he said, "Thank you."

Sam just shrugged, and patted him comfortingly on the shoulder, "Hey man, us rookies got to stick together right."

Percy laughed, "Right,"

Sam nodded his head at the pool table where a group of people were cueing up another game, "What do you say we go hustle those guys out of their wallets." Percy laughed, deep and happily,

"That sounds like a great idea,"

BREAK

Steve hid a smile behind the dregs of his beer as he watched Sam and Percy wander over to a nearby pool table. He knew he wasn't the most subtle person on the planet, but where subtlety often eluded him, brute force usually did the trick. He knew that Percy hadn't been handling things as well as he said he was. Steve could see it in the man's eyes. They were dead. Not all of the time. Often, it was only when Percy seemed to think he was alone, but his eyes would glaze over, and he would be seeing everything and nothing all at once. It was a look that Steve was all too intimately familiar with, and one he decided he didn't want to see on Percy's face.

"Eyes front soldier," came the husky whisper over his shoulder. He chuckled, he was getting better at knowing when Natasha was trying to sneak up on him. He'd smelled her this time, or rather, her perfume. Lilacs with the hint of something else. He swiveled away from his post and came almost nose to nose with her. She was smirking up at him as she mixed something in a shaker under the table.

He smirked himself, "What's a girl like you doin in a place like this?" he asked as he reached over the bar and snagged a full beer from the cooler.

Natasha's smirk deepened as she caught on to his little game, "Fella done me wrong."

"You got lousy taste in men kid." Steve said as he waved the lip of his bottle at her,

"He's not so bad" said Natasha, shrugging slightly as she took a sip from her drink. "Well, he's a little lost. Was lost at sea not too long ago and he's been struggling to find his place." Suddenly, the fun and light-hearted air that had been there was replaced by something else entirely. He felt his breath catch and his stomach fell out the bottom of his shoes. Clearly seeing his discomfort, Natasha continued onward, maintaining very firm eye contact, "See, he's in charge of this group of people. He's expected to lead this group; be their moral and emotional anchor. Except there's this problem. Guy won't let anyone in too close. Sure, he's got some friends, got some people he trusts, but he only lets them in so close. Only lets them see that first page, not the whole book."

Somehow, Steve managed to find his own voice, and when he spoke, it was raspy and little more than a murmur, "Why do you think he has such a hard time letting folks in?"

Natasha took another sip before answering, but her eyes never left his, "Because he's scared. See when he was lost, he lost everyone with him. And now that he's back, he's worried. Worried that if he lets anyone back in again; lets them get too close. That something is going to happen, and someone is going to take that away from him."

Steve licked his very dry lips, "Why bother with this guy if he's not letting anybody in? Sounds like he's not really worth the trouble. Sounds like you might be better off finding someone who's not so emotionally broken."

Natasha's eyes hardened, "He's worth it because he's unlike anybody I've ever met before. He's worth it because I have seen him face insurmountable odds, had his entire support structure and belief system shattered. I've seen him get knocked down again and again and again but get back up keep fighting. He's worth it because when he looks at me, he sees more than the damaged goods, more than what I was created to be. He sees me for what I can I be. For my entire adult life, I've been valued on the merits of what I had done. But he values me for what I can go on to do. He challenges me to be more than what I ever valued myself as and makes me want to be the person he knows I can be."

Steve didn't know how to react to this. Contrary to what his old war buddies would say, he wasn't that naive when it came to woman. He had spent months on the road with woman with, by the standards of the 1940's anyway, some very loose morals. So he could read between the lines here. He just didn't know how to react to any of it. There had been…something, between them. A closeness and a spark that he knew that she could feel. Chemistry like theirs didn't just disappear over night. But to think it and to hear it, were two very different things.

Mostly because she was right. He was shutting people out. It wasn't necessarily a conscious decision. But he was aware that he was doing it, it had taken Tony months following the downfall of SHIELD, to convince Steve to simply live in their tower. Not because Steve hated the idea, but simply because living in the same proximity as his other team members would mean potentially opening himself up for loss further down the line. He had already lost everything once, he didn't think he could take it a second time. But perhaps most terrifying of all, was not that he was now aware of what he had been doing, but that Natasha had so easily been able to read him and break him apart.

It terrified him.

But it also filled him with a strange sense of hope. Hope that maybe he was wrong, that maybe he could truly begin to let people back in. That he wouldn't be hurt the way he had been before. He knew he had an opportunity here, one to either continue down his path of lonely isolationism, or to open himself back up. To begin letting people see man under the suit one more time.

"So what are you going to do?" He finally asked, still not able to avert his gaze from hers.

"That's what I wanted to ask you." she said easily, "Do I fight this, or do I run with it."

It was time for a big boy decision. Did he throw his hand on the table, allow this woman who knew him better than maybe anyone else, into his life and into his heart, or did he close himself back off, did he fight this, and for the first time run away from a fight he didn't think he could win. Unbidden, images of his mother, and Peggy floated into his vision and he knew what they would be telling him. His mother, god rest her loving soul, would tell him that Rogers aren't quitters, they don't back down from the tough decision. They don't run away from the hard fight. She'd repeat to him the family motto, that when the world felt pressed against your shoulders and you had no where to turn, you didn't run in fear. You plant your feet and you tell the whole world that you wont't budge.

As for Peggy? He almost chuckled, he could practically hear her yelling at him, telling him to get off his moping arse and be a man about this. That woman would beat him black and blue if she knew the games he'd been playing with his emotions. So he straightened his shoulders and squared himself back to the woman in front of him,

"Run with it. He might fight it, cause you're right. I think he's scared. Scared of being left behind again. Scared that if he does let someone back in, that he'll just lose them again. You might have to drag him kicking and screaming the entire way, but if you think this guy is worth all of the trouble. Worth the fight, then I think he'd be willing to fight for you too."

And he knew, when she smiled he knew.

He wasn't going to run.

He was going to fly.

BREAK

"No way."

"Cross my heart it's true."

"I have so many questions."

"You fired a canon?"

"Yup."

"Like…an actual cannon?"

"Uh huh."

"Gunpowder and everything"

"Last I checked that was required to fire a cannon."

"But…it was in a museum!"

"Still happened."

"I have no words."

The party had died out. The partygoers having either left to go home or passed out on some of the lower floors, had dispersed and only the team was left sprawled over a couple of sofas. Steve and Thor were taking turns passing a flask of…something. Steve wasn't exactly sure what it was, but he knew that he was tipsy for the first time in his life. And honestly, he could understand Howard and his son a hell of a lot better now. He felt airy, light, and genuinely happy. It was a novel experience. He, Thor, and Percy had all been swapping stories, and Percy had just been regaling them with the time he accidentally fired off a cannon. Percy stood up from his place on the floor by Steve's side,

"Gotta go to the bathroom, be right back."

Percy stepped over the mess of legs and empty glasses as he left down the hall towards the bathroom, Steve watched him go for a moment, Sam had been more than successful in pulling Percy out of his funk. The man had been genuinely smiling for the last few hours, and it had been one of the few times that Steve had seen their new friend seem happy since he had met him. It filled him with a warmth to see his friends coming together like this. He didn't want to jinx it, since sooner or later the bubble would burst, but for the moment, he was content to take in the moment, and enjoy the brevity while they had it.

He glanced across the table and met Natasha's eyes, she too looked far more alive and happy than Steve could remember. Smiling happily, and perhaps a little drunkenly, he raised his bottle in a silent toast, which she matched.

"But it's a trick." He caught Barton saying to Thor.

"No no, it's much more than that," said Thor as he passed the flask back over to Steve,

"Whosever be he worthy shall haveth the powahhhhh." intoned Barton, in an impression of…something. "Whatever man. It's a trick!"

Laughing jovially, Thor simply raised a hand in challenge, "Well please, be my guest."

"Really?" asked Barton, slightly incredulous,

"Yeah." said Thor simply, shrugging, Steve watched Barton put down the drum sticks he'd been fiddling with and climb over Hill towards the Hammer. What followed was about ten minutes of everyone completely unsuccessfully attempting to lift the hammer. However, the strangest thing occurred when it came to Steve's turn to pull the hammer. He wrapped his hands around the grip, the smooth leather and hard iron were cool under his fingers.

He gave it a yank. Pulling with every fiber of his being, he had expected the same result as the others. Complete stillness, but that isn't what happened. It happened quickly, so fast that, had it been anyone else he would have missed it entirely. But the hammer wiggled, he knew he felt it move. He even felt something surge up his arms and fill his being. He felt, powerful, for a fleeting moment, he felt power and electricity course through every fiber of body. The hair on his arms stood on end and a vision of thunder and lightening clouded his vision.

Then, as fast as it came, it stopped.

He readjusted his grip and tried again but nothing happen. Not even a wiggle. He shrugged it off with a grin as the others groaned good naturedly. But he shared an unspoken look with Thor, and something passed in the man's eyes, An understanding, and a respect. He had seen the hammer move as well. He pat the man on the knee, his way of saying that the thunder god had nothing to worry about as far as he was concerned,

Bruce had motioned that it was Natasha's turn to take a swing but she declined, saying that there was some questions she didn't need answered.

"Idea," Said Stark suddenly,

Barton groaned, "Oh this ought to be good." he said in a stage whisper, there was some scattered laughs but Stark ignored him,

"We need to initiate the rookie, Big guy, put the hammer in front of the kids seat. Make him try to move it."

"Ok that's good. Do it," Rhodey quickly agreed.

"Oh c'mon guys seriously, I think we're above hazing the kid." said Banner, trying to be the moral voice of reason. but of course it fell on deaf ears as there was there was some laughter and Thor rolled his eyes but smiled and acquiesced. Lifting the hammer, he placed it where Percy had been perched before. There was some drunken giggling and almost as soon as Thor moved the hammer, Percy walked back into the room. Almost as one, everyone in the room, turned and watched him walk back over.

"You were gone for a while kid, what happened, you fall in?" Stark teased,

"Ha ha." Percy sarcastically laughed as he walked over, "No I got lost. This place is a freaking maze and I walked into a few wrong rooms. By the way Stark, a sex swing, really? At your age? No offense meant but that seems like a bold choice, you could throw out a hip climbing in and out of that thing." That got a laugh out of everyone in the room as Stark just waved it off.

Then everyone quieted down and watched with bated breath as Percy moved to sit down. But he didn't go to his original seat, instead he took the open seat next to Natasha across the room, there was a small groan from a couple of team members and Percy raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Without missing a beat however, Thor tried to recover the moment,

"Perceus," Percy rolled his eyes at the use of his full name, "Could you please hand me my hammer?"

"Grab it yourself, it's right there."

"Nuh uh Rook, remember the pecking order." Barton snarked, "Now do as the man asked and get him his hammer,"

Percy scoffed and looked at Natasha for any kind of support but she shook her head and took another sip of her beer, and pointed at the hammer. Groaning and muttering about cheap hazing rituals Percy strode over to the hammer, still on the floor. The room stilled, and everyone seemed to hold their breath, Barton and Hill were smirking and Rhodey was trying to hide his smile behind his bottle.

Percy wrapped his hands around the handle, and with a light tug, he flipped it, end over end, into his hand handed it to Thor.

Silence, utter silence. Someone dropped a bottle which shattered over the floor but nobody noticed, too entranced by Percy expectantly holding the hammer out to Thor.

The thunderer looked from the hammer to Percy and back again, shock etched over his features. Then, he smiled. A large beaming smile. And then he started laughing. softly at first but which grew in volume until it thundered and reverberated off the walls and windows of the penthouse. Clapping the younger man on the shoulder he took the hammer from Percy's very confused grasp. "I knew it." Thor laughed as he clapped Percy once more, "I knew it. Of anyone else on all of Midgard, if anyone could wield Mjolnir Perseus, it would be you."

"Oh you've got to be shitting me." Stark muttered under his breath, it was a testament to everyone else's shock that no one made a joke at Steve's expense.

"Ok so what, you coded Jackson's fingerprints into the handle or something? What's the trick?" Stark was desperately trying to find any and all logical conclusion to what they had witnessed. Steve just shook his head and sat back in the chair, he shared a look with Percy and couldn't but laugh at the look of bewilderment on his face. What he would give to know what was going on in the kids head.

Percy had almost broke. He knew what they were doing, of course he'd heard the stories. Knew the legends, that only those worthy of the hammer could wield it. So he knew what they'd been planning the second he'd entered the room. It was why he went to the side of the couch to begin with. So when they had made him walk over to grab it for Thor, he'd nearly lost it. But he couldn't, it would have raised too many questions if he'd just laughed. So he'd played along. Knowing full well what was going to happen. After all, he'd used the hammer in the final battle against Thanos. It was why there had even been a discussion about him being the one to return the stones in the first place. So he'd done his best to maintain his composure, and try and turn the moment to his advantage. This would go a very long way to solidifying his position with the team. He hadn't meant for it to happen, but he would take advantage nonetheless.

But the joy in him slowly started to fade away, it was coming, he could feel it, any moment now, the peace and the camaraderie would be ended. And his real job would begin.

"Yes, well, it is a very interesting theory." Thor was saying, but Percy was only half paying attention, he could hear the footsteps now, soft but heavy. Clanking their way. He turned away from Thor and walked back over to put himself between the the table and where he knew Ultron would appear. Steadily, he began playing with the water in the air, coalescing and condensing it around his person. Ready to call it and bend it to his will, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Natasha was watching him, as she surreptitiously removed her heels and reached for something under the table.

"I have a different one." Thor was saying, Percy had his back to the elevator now, fully between the table and the main hall, Natasha was standing, a pistol in her grip, but no one else was paying them attention, the footsteps were closer now, slowly limping their direction.

"You're all not worthy."

There was a high pitched squeal, nearly deafening, like nails on a chalkboard. Percy ignored it, a small ice dagger, now gripped in his fingers.

"Worthy?" groaned a voice, and Percy Turned around to face the aggressor.

The iron legionnaire shambled to a stop, and slowly turned around. It was missing a hand, there was a gaping wound in its chest, and it moved with a steady limp, courtesy of the detached leg.

It was a horrific sight.

"How could you be worthy?" The robot asked, waving a hand in their direction.

"You're all killers."

"Stark" Said Steve, who was now standing with the rest of the team, his body tensed for any incoming threats.

Stark ignored him, looking between the data pad in his hand and the monstrosity before him. "Jarvis." he called casually,

"I'm sorry, I was asleep," said the machine, ignoring both men, "Or I was a-a dream."

"Robot legionnaire OS." said Stark into his pad, "We got a buggy suit."

"There was this terrible noise." continued the machine, raising its arm as if to wave off an attack, "and I was tangled in…in…strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked,

"Wouldn't have been my first call." said the suit, sounding entirely too much like Stark, it put Percy off even more. "But down here in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" demanded Thor,

There was a whirring and a recording of Stark's voice came over the suit's speakers, "_I see a suit of armor around the world."_

"Ultron," said Banner, sounding alarmed as he looked at Stark.

"In the flesh." It cut in. "Or no, not yet. Not this, chrysalis."

Thor readied his hammer, as Hill and Natasha cocked the hammer's back on their respective sidearms.

"I'm on mission."

"What mission?" Natasha asked, as she leveled her weapon,

"Peace in our time"

The wall behind the suit shattered,

and the mission began.


	6. Family Matters

Jumping into the air, the homicidal legionnaire flew under Percy, missing him by a hair. Just as the machine was passing under Percy, he willed a sword of ice into his hand. Slashing down, Percy caught the machine where its neck should have been, cleaving the head of the robot off in one clean stroke.

The decapitated legionnaire's propulsors shut down and it fell in a lifeless heap on the floor. Landing on his feet, Percy tried to steady himself but was blindsided as another legionnaire tackled him. The two went sprawling over the stairway before landing with a crunch on the floor of the level below. Using the momentum caused by the fall, Percy grasped the legionnaire around the cuirass, and pulled himself and the machine up. With a heave, he tossed it into a nearby wall. The legionnaire bounced off the wall, and Percy's fist met metal cheek and it collided with the wall a second time. Grabbing the machine by an arm, Percy tripped it and released his hold on its arm and grabbed it by the leg. Using the leg as a focal point, Percy stomped hard on the legionnaire's head, crushing it.

Knowing he needed to get back into the fight, Percy launched himself back up onto the second level. Vaulting over the bannister, he quickly had to duck to avoid Steve riding on the back of a suit as it flew overhead. He did a brief scan of the area; Steve and Tony were working on a suit each. He watched as Nat threw a terrified looking Banner over the bar and behind cover. Thor was trying to cover for Clint as the archer tried to recover his footing on the stairs. Which left Rhodey and Hill; between the two only Hill had a pistol and there was a pair of suits advancing on them quickly.

Making his decision, Percy took off running. After a few paces, he leaped, channeling his will of the sea as he did so. His body took on the form of water vapor and he rematerialized directly over one of the legionnaires. Landing on its back, Percy drove his ice sword up through the back of its neck, right where the brain-stem would have been on a normal person. The machine fell lifeless to the floor, and Percy had to roll to his left as a blast from a propulsor shot through the air where his head had been a moment ago.

Jumping to his feet, Percy met the gaze of Rhodey and nodded at him. The man looked confused for a moment, but nodded back all the same, Percy shot a look and a subtle gesture with his hand to Hill, telling her she could back off, and Percy was pleased to see that she got the message. He knew that the former deputy director was more than capable of defending herself, but to be honest, using a Glock nine-millimeter against one of Stark's suits would be like trying to cut through wood with safety scissors.

On Percy's motion, both he and Rhodey shot forward. Percy ducked under the outstretched arm of the machine, wrapping one hand around its forearm as he did so, and with the hand holding the sword construct, he tossed the sword to Rhodey. Percy rotated his body and pulled the other arm around him. With one of the robot's arms behind its back, Percy quickly twisted the other. Planting one foot on the suits back, Percy kicked the machine while he simultaneously pulled on each of the arms. With a screeching of metal, Percy pulled the arms free from the joints as he kicked the suit directly into the path of Rhodey. Rhodey had caught the sword and as the armless legionnaire stumbled at him, he swung the sword and took the head off in one clean stroke.

Turning his attention back to the room at large, Percy saw that both Tony and Steve had taken care of their targets. Percy turned his attention to where the original Ultron had appeared, in time to see Steve whip his shield into the chest of the final legionnaire.

The room fell still, save for the soft clinking of the original Ultron's metal feet as it paced along the floor.

"That was dramatic," it stated dryly, "I'm sorry, I know you mean well, you just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved, if it's not allowed to evolve? With these?" It leaned down and picked up one of the fallen suits by the head piece, before crushing it into pieces, "These puppets. There's only one path to peace. The Avengers extinction."

Thor had heard enough apparently, as he whipped Mjölnir into the chest of the psychotic bot. The machine exploded into parts, but its headpiece stayed intact. As the light began to fade from the reactor in its chest, it began to sing.

"_I had strings_

_But now I'm free_

_There are no strings on me"_

Which was a bit more than Percy could handle, so he threw a javelin of water through the reactor in its chest, which caused the machine to shut down entirely. The room turned to look at the newcomer, and Percy just shrugged, "Nothing good ever comes from the bad guy singing." he said simply.

And the room fell silent once more.

BREAK

Banner was working through a monitor at a small workstation in the lab he and Tony used, as Percy filled up a small glass of water in a nearby sink.

"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, he used the internet as an escape hatch." he said,

Natasha looked up from her own work at a nearby table, "He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we do about each other."

Percy quirked a speculative brow at that; he had been under the impression that these people had been friends, but that little throwaway comment seemed to imply that the group around him hardly knew one another. Something else, he would need to try and rectify. Closing the spigot, he took the glass over to a nearby chair, where Hill was sitting with a pair of tweezers trying to pull shards of glass out of her foot. He pointed quietly at her foot and she looked at him slightly puzzled, and shot a look at Natasha who just nodded at her. Apprehensive, but curious, the woman turned her attention back to Percy and nodded slowly at him.

Getting onto one knee, Percy set the glass on the floor, and willed the water into the air. The water coalesced into a sphere that floated in the air. Percy waved the sphere of water over so that it engulfed the woman's foot. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, Percy focused on allowing the water to pull the shards of glass out. The woman gasped softly at the strange sensation, but otherwise stayed quiet, watching in fascination as Percy worked.

Rhodey spoke up as Percy worked on Hill's foot, "He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he tries to access something a little more exciting?"

"Nuclear codes," said Hill softly, her attention still on Percy.

"Nuclear codes," Rhodey affirmed, "Look we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"He isn't going to nuke us," Percy said, still concentrating on the foot. He had finished pulling the glass out and was now focusing on closing the many small wounds. "This isn't about destroying the planet. This is about destroying you. Destroying the Avengers. You heard him, he said he wanted the Avengers 'extinct', whatever the hell that means." Percy watched, as the final wound closed on the woman's foot. Percy focused the water off of the appendage, and pushed it slowly back into the cup. Grabbing the foot in one hand, he turned it slowly side to side and inspected his handy work. Nodding in satisfaction he stood up, and took the bloody water back to the sink, and dumped it.

Watching him in utter confusion and amazement, Hill grabbed her foot, and ran a tentative hand along her arch. There wasn't even a noticeable mark to tell that she had been injured.

Clint, who had been watching the little byplay decided to speak up, "He also said that he killed somebody,"

Hill looked up, meeting the man's gaze, "There wasn't anybody else in the building,"

"Yes, there was," Tony said morosely, striding over to the center of the room with a data pad in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, a holographic display appeared.

Percy, having finished cleaning out the cup, strode over to stand next to Steve, eyebrow raised in confusion as he looked at the display. It was hard to describe, but to Percy it looked not too dissimilar to what it would look like if you froze a glass bulb, and then shattered it.

"What exactly is that?" he asked tilting his head in confusion,

"Jarvis," Steve said, regret and an undercurrent of anger in his voice as he closed his eyes and his head drooped to his chest in sorrow, "He was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

"No," Bruce said firmly, staring intently at the disassembled a.i. "Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This, isn't strategy, this is…rage."

Before anyone could comment, Thor stomped angrily into the room. Striding up to Tony, the god grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him into the air,

"C'mon, use your words buddy," Stark gasped out,

"I have more than enough words to describe you Stark," the god said,

Steve, ever the pragmatist, stepped in before Thor could do any serious harm to Tony. "Thor," he said, getting the Thunderer's attention, "The legionnaire?"

With a look of disgust, Thor released Tony, but did not take his eyes from him, "The trail went cold about one hundred miles out, but it's headed north." He then turned to look at the Captain, thinly concealed anger seeping through his words, "It has the scepter," he growled, "Now, we have to retrieve it. Again."

"Genie's out of that bottle," Natasha butt in, "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand," said Dr. Cho, speaking for the first time all night, "You built this program, why is it trying to kill us."

Stark looked at her for a moment, before he turned away. He didn't answer, not right away. But he started to laugh. It began as a short snort, but quickly turned into a silent laughter. Bruce tried to get him to stop, but the man just couldn't control himself.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked, and although he was smiling, it was far from the pleasant expression he had been wearing for most of the evening.

"No," Tony said although it almost sounded more like a question, "It's probably not, right?" The laughter was still evident in his voice, as it shook slightly as he spoke, "This is very terrible. Is it so…is it so? It is, it's so terrible.

Thor cut across him, "This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."

"No," Tony interrupted, now appearing genuinely upset, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

Bruce attempted to play the mediator, but to little avail, "Tony, maybe this might not be the time."

"Really?" the man in question asked in utter exasperation, "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time that somebody snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot," the doctor snarked back,

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

"Well you did something right." Steve interjected, "And you did it right here." He stepped forward so that he was in Tony's personal space, "The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD."

"Anybody remember when I carried a Nuke through a wormhole?"

"No," said Rhodey sarcastically, "It's never come up," but Tony ignored his friend,

"Saved New York? Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it." The air in the room grew heavy, and Percy was overcome with his own memories of the alien monstrosities that came charging through the wormhole, destroying any and everything they came across.

"We're the Avengers," Tony continued, "We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but that up there…" he pointed up towards the sky, "That's the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?"

And Percy was suddenly struck by something, something he had never really understood about the man in question. He had known. Tony had known about Thanos in some shape or form. Percy didn't know how or why but the man had known that something was coming. Percy was suddenly brought back to the meeting room at the compound, hours after Tony and Nebula had landed back on earth.

It had been a relief to know that not everyone had been lost, that there still might have been some semblance of hope left. That had disappeared in the argument that followed. Stark had made a reference to a conversation the team had, had some point in the past and Percy realized that this must have been it.

Percy was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost missed Steve saying that they would stop whatever came together.

"We'll lose,"

"Then we'll do that together too."

That was Percy's breaking point, he needed to say something, make a point. "I'm sorry," he spoke, and all eyes in the room jumped to him, "I know I'm the new guy and all, but can I just say something here."

"Always, Perseus," said Thor, and Percy shot the man a thankful look before turning his attention back to Tony,

"Mr. Stark, Tony," Percy said, "I agree with you. I really do. I was in New York too. I fought; I saw the destruction with my own eyes. I've spent the last few days going over everything you guys had on the Chitauri, and the invasion. You still don't know where Loki got that army, or who was footing the bill." Percy paused and crossed his arms, "Which means that in all likelihood, there can and will be another attack on earth. By who? We don't know, but you're right, in that up there," Percy pointed his own finger to the clouds, "That's where the action is going to be. And for all we know it could be some genocidal lunatic with the ability to destroy half of all life with a snap of his fingers."

Percy snapped his own finger to emphasize his point, and because his back was to her, Percy missed the way that Natasha's entire body went rigid, her eyes widening in shock before narrowing in suspicion and concern.

"So, you're right. We need to be prepared." Percy continued, before he turned his attention away from Stark and looked at Steve, "But the captain's right too. This is supposed to be a team. We're supposed to fight together, laugh together, and win or lose, we do that together too. But more importantly, we need to be able to trust each other. Trust that we all have, not only the best interests of the fate of the planet in mind, but of each other too. We can't do that if we're keeping things from one another. If one of us has secrets that affects the rest of us, if one of us is doing something that affects the team as a whole, and we don't know about, then we aren't a team." Percy looked at Steve hard now, he needed to get his point across, not just to Tony, but to Steve as well.

The downfall of the Avengers came during the accords. Percy knew that much. He knew that Steve was hiding something that tore him and Tony apart so badly, that they weren't even on speaking terms when Thanos came to earth. They couldn't afford that this time. Every single one of them needed to be on the same page. They needed to be ready, and they needed to be prepared. That could not happen so long as Steve and Tony were at odds.

At this point, Percy wasn't even sure if telling Tony, the truth about Barnes would help anything, it might just speed things along and divide the team sooner. But Percy could not leave that to chance. He came back to fix things, and the divide between the two mightiest on the team was his biggest obstacle.

"Kid's got a point," said Clint softly, "But for right now, I think we have bigger issues than personal ideologies. We need to find Ultron; all of this," he waved a hand around at the group, "Can wait."

Sighing in defeat, Tony just looked away, but the speculative look on the man's face told Percy that he had given the man a lot to consider. Steve too, looked like he was considering Percy's words carefully. Percy knew that he couldn't make the man spill his secrets now, but Percy could begin whittling away at the man's conscience. Sooner or later, he would break. Percy just hoped it wouldn't be too late to fix whatever damage was caused.

Steve released a breath but didn't comment on what Percy said, "Barton's right," he commented instead, "Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place, let's start making it smaller."

BREAK

Working through the night, they were quick to discover that there were no files that Ultron had not been through, and subsequently deleted. As Percy was as of yet, "unfamiliar" with the Avengers data network, despite having extensive experience with it, he had to spend the majority of the night playing assistant to Natasha. He wasn't going to complain. He and Natasha had been close, she had been a friend and confidant, more so she had been family, and her death had nearly put him into a spiral.

So being able to spend even more time with the woman was not an opportunity he was going to pass up.

It was going on sunrise, and Natasha was finishing up a conference call with Rhodey. He had left as soon as he could to report in everything that was happening, according to him, War Machine was being deployed to the Middle East to hopefully prevent any further catastrophe caused by panicking world leaders.

She had just been finishing up when Steve walked back into the room, a tablet in his hand. The man made a beeline to Thor, as he was descending down from the floor above, "Any word from on high?" the Captain asked,

Thor shook his head, "Either Heimdall is away from his post or he has been ordered not to answer. But Ultron cannot hide forever. We will find him."

"Well," said Steve, passing the tablet in his hand over to Thor. "He's not exactly hiding." Taking the tablet, the thunder god stared intently at it, before his gaze hardened and flickered over to Percy. Steve also shot a semi-worried glance Percy's direction but his attention was redirected to Tony,

"What's this?" Tony asked, and in response, Thor slapped the tablet into the man's chest. Curious Percy wandered away from his station to peer over the billionaire's shoulder.

"A message," Steve said, as he looked at Percy, an angry glint in his eyes, "Ultron killed Strucker,"

Percy, who had met Steve's gaze turned his attention back to the tablet and pulled it roughly out of Tony's hands. The man yelped in annoyance but allowed the larger man to take it. It was an image of Strucker, lying dead in his cot, the word 'peace' spelled out in his blood on the wall next to him. For the umpteenth time since Percy's arrival, his head exploded in agony. He was once again torn in between two vastly different timelines, the wounds and pains of the man who had tortured and humiliated him for years, the one he had let live at Steve's request, was dead anyways.

His chest ached, and his vision blurred and he found that he was having a difficult time standing. Percy threw the tablet down on a nearby table and stalked away from the group, his breathing coming in slow and heaving gasps. At the back of the room, he clutched at the window sill, and tried to steady himself.

Rage built inside him, as he clutched at the window sill, not noticing that he was bending the metal around his fingers as he did so. It wasn't fair, the man that had single-handily taken everything away from him was dead, and not by his own hand. His rage was so overwhelming that he could not even find solace in the knowledge that he would likely spend the rest of eternity in the fields of punishment. It wasn't enough. Percy had been robbed of justice, been robbed of the opportunity to see the man who had ruined his life face trial and punishment for his crimes.

He also couldn't help but find himself furious with Steve. Part of his inner psyche told him that Percy was being irrational. That Steve had only been trying to save Percy from becoming something he didn't want to be. Percy wasn't the type to kill defenseless prisoners. No matter what the man had done, but that small voice of reason was falling to the wayside. In its place was indignation that Steve had robbed Percy of being the one to deliver that rat bastard to Hades himself.

Percy told himself that he shouldn't be reacting this way, that for him, the man had already been dead for years. But that was only half of Percy's life now. A set of memories from a time that he had never actually lived. Only he had lived it, and his head began to throb uncontrollably and with one hand, Percy clutched at his temple as he tried to soothe the pounding. He couldn't hear, his blood was pumping so loudly in his ears that the rest of the ambient noises of the room was completely drowned out.

He was momentarily torn away from his turmoil when he felt a hand on his back. Looking down, he saw that someone was holding a glass of water under his nose. A glance to his left and, Percy saw that Natasha was holding the cup, a look of concern painting her features.

His head was throbbing too painfully, to fully be able to understand how the woman knew to give him water to help calm him down, so he just grabbed the cup into his hands, and chugged the contents. Closing his eyes, Percy sighed in relief as he felt the effects of his father's domain take over. His migraine subsided somewhat.

Looking to his left, he smiled at the woman in relief, "Thanks," he said, and she just gave him a reassuring smile, her hand still rubbing soothing circles on his back,

"Stupid question," she said, "But how're you doing?"

Percy grimaced, and looked out the window, "Not great," he admitted, stealing a glance over his shoulder he saw Steve as he was pulling files out of a large cardboard box, they met gazes for a minute, and Percy saw a flash of remorse cross the man's features, and Percy felt his stomach drop a little. Steve was clearly feeling guilty. During his time with the group in the other timeline, Percy had been quick to realize that perhaps the only person on the planet who with a worse guilt complex than him was Steve Rogers. Percy knew the man was bullying himself for Percy's own inner pain, despite not even realizing the true reasons behind Percy's frustrations.

Turning his gaze back to Natasha, who had followed his gaze, "I know it's wrong of me," Percy said softly, "I know he was just trying to keep me from potentially doing something I would hate myself later for, but I can't help but feel cheated." He closed his eyes and retightened his grip on the window sill, which creaked slightly under the pressure,

"That bastard stole years from my life, cost me the woman I loved, and kept me from burying my mother. I deserved to see him face justice for what he did to me. Now I'll never have that chance. It hurts." Opening his eyes, he looked over at his old friend,

She nodded in understanding, "I get it," she replied, and she took her hand of his back and shifted so she was staring out at the city skyline with Percy, "You're right, you were cheated out of justice. You were robbed of the only chance at closure that you could have had. But Steve isn't to blame, and I know you know that."

Percy nodded, and sighed, "You're right." Meeting her eyes again he said, "I'm still trying to just come to terms with everything you know? Before all of this, I thought I had everything figured out. I thought maybe I had the chance for happiness, to be normal…" he trailed off as he tried to collect his thoughts. He wasn't sure why he was opening up so much, especially to a woman who technically didn't know him as well as he knew her, but he had always been able to be open with Natasha.

"Then I lost everything. In a manner of hours, I found out that I had lost everything." A sad smile its way onto his lips, "I've just been throwing myself into this…whatever it is this is. And you know, in spite of everything, in spite of all of the grief and pain, I can't help but be hopeful…hopeful that in spite of losing everything, of having nothing…that maybe I'll have this. I'll have all of you."

Something stirred in the woman beside him, she shifted her stance, and Percy saw something he wasn't able to identify cross over her face. Almost like she'd had a realization of some sorts, as though she had found the answer to a question, she hadn't been able to answer. As quick as it appeared, the look disappeared, so fast that Percy almost missed it entirely.

"This whole…thing of ours….is strange. There are days I wake up and still have difficulties believing that its real. That I'm lucky enough to have been surrounded by so many genuinely good people. It's less than someone like me deserves." she looked him square in the eyes, and a burning intensity blazed behind her shining eyes, "It's been a very long time since I've had anything close to a family, and now I have all of this. And I'll fight like hell to keep it together."

She gestured over shoulder, "Right now there's a homicidal robot trying to take away what's ours. We're gonna have to find him the old the old-fashioned way. All hands, on deck. You gonna join us?"

Percy nodded, his migraine was gone, and speaking with his friend had settled down some of his more anxious feelings. If nothing else he no longer felt like he was going to punch a hole in the wall.

Pushing himself off the sill, Percy turned back towards the group. Meeting Steve's gaze once more, he held it, and nodded at the man. Percy tried to assure his friend that he was ok and that they would be ok. Percy watched as the man physically relaxed, and Steve smiled in relief. As Percy reached over and began to dig his way through his own box of files, he grinned.

So far so good.

BREAK

"What the hell do you mean I'm staying on the damn jet?" Percy demanded angrily. After digging through a few boxes, they had stumbled over an old SHIELD file on Ulysses Klaue, an arms dealer operating off of the African coast. Bruce ran a search on a strange branding on the man's neck. After attempting to smuggle material out of Wakanda, he had been caught and branded. Steve and Tony had notified the team that what he was likely trying to smuggle was vibranium, the strongest material on the planet.

It was a long shot, but they were operating in the dark and any lead needed to be followed up on. So, the team had kitted up, and flown to a former harbor, that had been since turned into a ship-graveyard. Klaue was operating out of one of the old cargo-ships. Since Percy had only been with the team for a short while, he didn't exactly have a suit to put on for the event, so Clint had scrounged up some old SHIELD tech for Percy to put on. Black fatigues, a small ballistics plate-vest, and a jacket. The jacket fit too snugly around his large frame so he had ditched it and had rolled the sleeves of the uniform up to his elbow to try and find some semblance of temperature control on the humid coast.

He had just been fitting a pair of gloves over his hands, when Steve had made the call that Percy and Banner would be staying with the jet. Percy had not taken too kindly to the notion. While he knew that he couldn't put Ultron down without Vision to close the machine out of the internet, Percy had been wanting to try and make a play at taking out the Maximoff twins before it was too late.

He would be lying if he said that he wouldn't take a perverse pleasure in knocking the future Scarlet Witch into next Tuesday either.

"Sorry junior," Tony said, his voice coming slightly modulated through the headset in Percy's ear, "Big kids only."

"Percy," Steve interjected, cutting Tony off before he could get on a roll, "You're talented, there's no question about that, and I know you can take care of yourself, but you haven't trained to operate with this team yet. We work as a unit; we've trained and fought together. I'm not about to throw you into the lion's den before you've had a chance to get worked into the this yet."

Percy was about to cut him off, but Natasha spoke up before he could, "Steve's right Percy. Besides, we need you here to run interference in case anyone decides to try and make a play while we're stuck inside. Also," She jokingly pointed over to Banner, "Somebody needs to keep Bruce occupied, he gets lonely when Tony's not around." Percy wanted to object, but something in the way Natasha was looking at him gave him pause, she wasn't kidding. Sure, her tone had been jesting and sarcastic, but Percy knew the woman well enough to know when she was trying to tell him something. She was being completely serious about Banner, and as Percy thought about it, it started to make sense.

Scarlet Witch could not control minds, per se. But she could influence them, make them see and believe things that weren't really there. If she was there, and Percy knew that she would be, and got loose from the engagement and decided to play around with the doctor's mind…some real terrible things could happen.

And something about that was rubbing at him. A memory of something he remembered Thor saying in the future. Prior to his jump, Percy had surreptitiously been asking the Avengers about the events leading up to Thanos. Sure, there were documents and news reports, but Percy had wanted to hear about what happened from the people that were there.

He thought he remembered something about the Hulk and a rampage around this time, but his head was still throbbing occasionally, and he was having a more difficult time remembering what had happened and in what order.

It was actually very concerning. Neither he nor Dr. Strange had known what would happen when he used the stones to combine realities. They had no idea what the ramifications would be, and Percy just hoped that his haphazard plan to fuse himself together, wasn't about to backfire in a truly horrific way.

"That's cute," Banner said rolling his eyes, "Very cute."

"Fine," Percy agreed, finally coming to a decision. Waving a dismissive hand at the group as they began to exit the jet. Padding over to one of the flight chairs, Percy plopped himself down and watched as the team left. Natasha sent one more knowing look over her shoulder as they left, which just solidified Percy's decision further.

Settling himself in, Percy tried to get comfortable as he waited. Looking over to the doctor, Percy only considered momentarily trying to strike up a conversation, but the man was engrossed in something on a terminal in front of him. Percy just sighed, and crossed his arms as he leaned back in the chair. There was nothing else he could really do but bide his time now.

He lost track of how long he and the doctor had been sitting there. However, his attention was diverted by the distinct sound of gunfire. His head snapped up, and he shared a look with Banner. Things must not have been going well inside of the broken cargo ship.

Banner walked over to a comm unit on the main terminal of the jet, pressing the button he spoke into the mic, "Guys, is this a code Green?" he asked, but the only response was static. Standing up from his position in the chair, Percy pressed the release for the bay door at the jet's rear. With a hiss, the door creaked open. Stepping out of the cool jet, Percy immediately began to sweat. Instead of laboring him, however, the heavy humidity of the jungle behind Percy, invigorated him. The heavily condensed water in the air was easier to access, and Percy natural affinity for his element had only ever felt stronger, when he was actually in the ocean.

He perched himself against the bulkhead, and stared out into the wasteland in the horizon. It didn't take much to determine where Klaue's operation was, because only a few moments after Percy opened the hanger door, Tony's suit was blown through the bulkhead of one of the ships closer to shore. The man righted his course, before charging back inside, only to collide heavily with a large metallic form.

"Jesus," Percy heard Banner mutter beside him, and Percy turned to look at the doctor,

"Your boy has been juicing." he snarked, "Think that's what he needed the vibranium for?" Percy asked,

"Could be…" the doctor said slowly, as he mulled the question over, "From what little I know about the substance, Vibranium is the single strongest element on earth, light in weight and highly flexible. Theoretically, he could it to create an infinitely stronger version of itself…" The doctor trailed off, and Percy just turned his attention back to the fighting at the ship.

He watched as Tony turned the fighting around on Ultron and started dragging the machine's body across the hull of the ship, before the two disappeared from view as the blasted away on the other side of the carrier.

"Well that's disappointing." Percy said, looking back over at Banner, only to start in surprise, the doctor was no longer there.

"Dr. Banner?" Percy asked, "Bruce?" Turning around, Percy felt something tickle at the back of his mind, an all too familiar feeling. One he had felt far too many during his stay with Strucker.

She was here.

She was trying to hurt him again.

Percy saw red, and his anger mounted as he violently clashed against her assault on his mind. He heard a soft gasp and a yelp of pain from somewhere off to his right. Without wasting a moment, Percy turned toward the sight, focusing his will around his eyes and channeling the water in the atmosphere at the same time. The features of the world around Percy dulled, as his godly blood pounded in his ears. Scanning the horizon, time seemed to slow as Percy caught sight of his target.

By focusing around his eyes, Percy was able to find large sources of water. It was incredibly useful for identifying targets in a heavy fight. Steve originally had the idea, and with the help of Natasha, Percy had managed to perfect the technique. Which was how he was able to locate the two hidden forms, crouched in the bushes, a few yards away from the jet.

Knowing he could not do anything to potentially harm his future team members, Wanda was one of the most powerful members in the future, Percy focused the water he was summoning into a geyser, raising the temperature to a few shades below boiling as he did so. The attack would hurt like a son of a bitch, but wouldn't do any lasting damage.

Not really good when trying to kill someone, but perfect for a spot of petty revenge.

Percy outstretched his right hand, and clasped his left hand around his right wrist for stability, and with a grunt of concentration, a full geyser of water shot forward from his outstretched palm, and rammed directly into the two hidden figures.

Wanda and Pietro screamed in pain and surprise, before Pietro scooped his sister up into his arms and dashed away faster than Percy could visibly track. Letting out a huff of satisfaction, Percy shifted his focus and began trying to locate Banner.

He didn't have to look for very long.

An unearthly roar tore through the canopies of the trees behind Percy.

"Oh…that's what I forgot." Percy muttered to himself, and he watched as the heads of several large trees began to topple to the forest floor.

"Shit."

_**AN: **_**So I'll be honest, I did not think this was going to have the type of support it has, but I love it. Things are going to start getting going from here, some pretty major things coming in the next chapter that I'm really excited for so get hyped! If you like this but haven't checked out some of my other stuff, give it a read, I think you'll enjoy it. Finally managed to make a crack in the next HBP chapter so for everyone waiting patiently on that, it's coming! Thanks again for all the love and support, hope you have an awesome night, and as always, let me know what you think!**

**Love,**

**LilDB **


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